March 17th - P&O Ferries Fire And Rehire

Unions are threatening legal action against P&O Ferries after making 800 workers redundant earlier today. The company suspended its sailings after making all UK seafaring employees redundant with immediate effect. The former employees are to be replaced with cheaper agency workers in an effort to reduce the company's current annual losses of £100m. Like many transport companies, P&O Ferries suffered from a drastic reduction in passengers during the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson for the company said in a statement, “In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business." I have come to Dover to find out how the situation unfolded for the unfortunate former staff members, and what is likely to come.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.