P&O Ferries have ‘got away with it’ say unions as Shapps backtracks on action

Two-week battle to hold company to account for sacking of 786 crew members appears to end with a whimper

A two week battle to hold P&O Ferries to account for the summary sacking of 786 crew members appears to have ended with a whimper, as unions said the Dubai-owned company had got away with it" after ministers backtracked on legal action and all but one employee accepted the firm's controversial payoff ahead of Thursday's deadline.

All of P&O Ferries' crew working on British contracts issued out of Jersey were fired on 17 March, to be replaced by cheap agency workers. The firm gave the sacked workers a deadline of 5pm on Thursday to accept or forfeit a payoff which they said compensated for the breach of their employment rights.