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May 11, 2022
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- Trade unions call on ILO for urgent action in favour of
of the 800 seafarers licensed by P&O Ferries
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- Accuses the government in London of violating the treaties as well
International
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 A group of trade unions and trade union federations, including
the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the Nautilus
International, rail, maritime and transport workers (RMT),
Trades Union Congress (TUC), the European Transport Workers'
Federation (ETF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC),
have lodged a formal complaint with International Labour
Organization (ILO) asking the UN agency for a
urgent action in favour of the 800 seafarers who have been
fired last March by P&O Ferries
(
of 17
March 2022).-
- In the complaint, confirming the perplexities expressed
by Nautilus International on the legislative proposal submitted
yesterday by the government of London to safeguard the rights of seafarers
(
of 11
May 2022), the inability of the government of the
United Kingdom to enforce labour laws and to enforce
sanctions to ensure compliance with the rules following
of the initiative of P&O Ferries that - recalled the
trade unions - was hired in violation
of the laws as admitted by the shipping company itself.
Initiative - highlighted the unions - which represents a
serious violation of ILO principles of liberty
of association and collective bargaining. The trade unions have
specified that with the failure to respond to the P&O action
Ferries the British government has also violated the treaties
international to which the United Kingdom is bound and, in
consideration of the seriousness of the matter, they asked
the urgent personal intervention of the ILO Director-General, Guy
Ryder, to signal to the United Kingdom his failure to
compliance with recognised labour standards
international.
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- "The CEO of P&O Ferries - ha
recalled the Secretary General of the ITF, Stephen Cotton -
provided that the company behaved illegally when
laid off 800 seafarers without notice in March, and told the
parliament that would do it again. P&O Ferries -
denounced Cotton - behaved in the most
calculated and serious and expects to get away with it. P&O Ferries has
trampled on the right to freedom of association and to
collective bargaining of these workers. This is the
consequence of this company that has blatantly ignored the
its legal obligations to consult seafarers and
their unions before firing them en masse on Zoom, escort them
off ships with security guards ready to use handcuffs
and replace them with paid non-unionized workforce with
only a fraction of the salary."
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- Pointing out that the company has deliberately put in place
these and other serious behaviors, Cotton admitted that, for
how P&O Ferries' actions were not at all
correct, the trade unions, on the basis of the current legislation
British, they had few avenues to contest the actions of the
company. "Through the ILO - explained the secretary
General FTT - we call for the UK to strengthen its
labor laws so that workers can actually
rely on the rights that the government claims they have."
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- "There must be - added Cotton - a real
dissuasion against dishonest employers. Want
that managers are put in a position that they cannot exercise
if they deliberately ignore the right to consult the
workers. There should be no limit to the compensation that a
worker may receive for an employer who does not
he asks."
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- In this regard, the secretary general of Nautilus
International, Mark Dickinson, recalled that "fifty
days after this self-provoked crisis, the CEO
of P&O Ferries, Peter Hebblethwaite, who admitted to having
broken the law, did not pay any price for the dismissal
illegal of our associates. He - said Dickinson - if
it must go."
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- According to the Secretary-General of the FTT, in addition, the government of the
United Kingdom should have allowed trade unions and workers
to seek injunctive relief from the courts that would
could freeze the dismissals and even revoke them. "Incapacity
of the Government of the United Kingdom to enforce its own laws on the
work - added Livia Spera, Secretary General of the ETF -
sets a dangerous precedent for employers
dishonest people from all over Europe. Ministers - he urged - must
intervene, remedy this mess, so as not
we will never again witness the life of another worker torn apart
from such insensitive industrial relations practices and
calculate'.
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- Announcing the submission of the complaint to the ILO,
unions have specified what changes to the laws of the Kingdom
United they would like them to be adopted, starting with allowing
unions to request an injunction to prevent them from having
effect unlawful dismissals or to reinstate workers;
the introduction of legislation requiring bargaining
collective at sector level between trade unions and employers in
report to all ferries serving UK ports and
make collective agreements binding by law;
the elimination of the prohibition of secondary industrial action if
the employer has failed to comply with the obligation to consult the
trade union. In addition, the unions hope that the failure to
consultation of trade unions is considered a criminal offence
attributable to the company and its directors, punishable by
unlimited penalties, removing the limit on compensation for
non-consultation which is currently limited to 90 days
of contractual remuneration, and urge to modify the
Regulation on the protection of workers in the event of the transfer of
companies (TUPE) of 2006 to allow trade unions to ask
an injunction for the suspension of transfer procedures
until a full and significant
consultation. In addition, the amendment of the statutes is required
of workers (Employment Rights Act 1996) to prohibit
"fire and rehire" practices used by P&O
Ferries, the adoption of more legislation is required
strict and not taking into account the flag State of the vessel at the
in order to protect all seafarers from all forms of
discrimination, thus allowing the UK authorities
greater possibilities of intervention even if a ship is
registered in a foreign State and the modification of the
Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 to make the omission
consultation of one of the grounds for revocation of qualifications to managers
of companies.
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phone: +39.010.2462122, fax: +39.010.2516768, e-mail
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