All of us in Dover and especially at the Town Council are shocked and alarmed by the redundancies at P&O Ferries this past week. The impact on both the company’s employees and our whole community cannot be overstated.
The headquarters of P&O and its fleet of cross channel ferries are everyday sights in the town and many local jobs and, therefore, households have been supported directly and indirectly by the ferry services from our port.
The way in which the news was broken to the employees has been unfair and inhuman – every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in such a difficult situation. We empathise with and pledge our support to all those households which now face an uncertain and difficult future.
The dreadful lack of respect for British workers shown by the owners and management of P&O Ferries is compounded by their proposed exploitation of offshore replacement crew, all of whom will receive lower wages and fewer benefits and protections purely because of their ethnicity or place of origin. This is unacceptable exploitation.
Tikimės, kad vyriausybė padarys viską, ką gali, kad atlygintų atleistiems darbuotojams, nubausti P&O už žmogiškumo trūkumą ir pagarbą Didžiosios Britanijos įstatymų dvasiai ir už tai, kad toks piktnaudžiavimas darbu nepasikartotų.
Šiuo metu, įsipareigojame nenaudoti P&O Ferries to show our support for the dismissed employees until that company reverts to proper employment practices.