A hero ferry captain managed to pull up his gangplanks in a stand-off with the bosses of P&O after the firm fired 800 workers over a Zoom call. The Sun reported that Eugene Favier, the master of ‘Pride of Hull’, refused to permit new crew members or police on board following mass redundancies.

Over 800 P&O employees had been sacked in a pre-recorded Zoom call, resulting in an outrage. Mr. Favier had sealed his crew inside the ship and pledged to be on the ferry till the dispute was ultimately resolved.

He mentioned that he had sufficient food and emergency supplies to last as long as it would take. The Pride of Hull usually carries 141 crew members and happens to be one of the largest ferries all over Europe. It makes regular crossings between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Hull.

Representation Image – Credits: Youtube

Members of the crew were allegedly being replaced with cheaper workers from overseas per the UK’s National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). The stand-off continued for about six hours until P&O shared the documeted terms and conditions of their redundancy agreements, which Mr. Favier insisted on the dumped crew receiving.

The members of the crew then disembarked over a covered gangplank while the captain stayed on board, as one of the members of key personnel. MP Karl Turner, Hull’s labor said that during the stand-off Mr. Favier had enough power to keep the people off.

Mr. Turner said that the ship’s staff was treated by P&O with “utter contempt”. DP World, a logistics giant based in Dubai, owns the vessel. P&O Ferries, however, said that it had not been “sustainable” to go on operating despite encountering a loss.

Mr. Jackson, the RMT regional organizer, said that P&O had left its staff on a “scrap heap”. He has sat with his crew members on the Pride of Hull.

Humberside Police reported that they were engaging with the parties at an incident at King George Dock, Hull, and added that right now there is no cause for concerns right now.

Reference: adelaidenow.com.au

Background:

ITF And ETF Condemn P&O Mass Sacking And Outsourcing

Captain & Crew To Lock Themselves On Board As P&O Sacks Over 800 Employees appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News