P&O’s boss praised for ‘amazing job’ by Dubai owner despite sackings scandal
DP World, the Dubai-based owner of disgraced ferry operator P&O, has praised chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite for doing an “amazing job” when he fired 800 seafarers in March.
Chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said P&O’s management took the decision without interference from the parent company and that could not be reversed, despite attempts by the UK Government.
“We said many times, [the UK Government] can’t do anything now because [the P&O decision] is in the past,” Sulayem told the Financial Times. “Peter has done an amazing job because he managed to save the company instead of 3,000 people [being] out of a job.
“The decision [the P&O board] made was their decision . . . I personally feel they were caught with a choice to make . . . I told them the decision was theirs . . . and we did not interfere and tell them what to do.”
According to Sulayem, P&O’s decision to replace the fired crews with cheaper agency workers will help the company get back on its feet and that the government has to blame itself for the sacking.
“Had they helped the company, it would have been a different situation,” he said, even though P&O received £11m during the pandemic.
Commenting on bin Sulayem’s words, Labour MP and shadow secretary Louise Haigh said: “DP World are revelling in unlawfully sacking 800 British workers.
“And they are still being benefitting from hundreds of millions in government approved investments.”
Haigh’s words were echoed by the RMT union, who called on the government to enforce tougher laws on companies such as P&O and DP World.
“This cannot be tolerated. Employers like P&O, hell-bent on attacking workers’ rights to profit their owners in Dubai, must face effective legal consequences at an international level,” RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch commented.
Following the sackings, P&O attracted strong criticism from the UK Government.
In addition to calling for Hebblethwaite’s resignation, the government launched a series of safety inspections on P&O’s ships.
Darren Jones, chair of Westminster’s business committee and Labour MP, said: “These comments show P&O Ferries and DP World’s continued disregard for the law, ministers and our parliament. To think they saw this episode as ‘amazing’ is beyond me and I hope ministers follow through with their tough words with tough action.”
During the Queen’s Speech, the government announced the introduction of a seafarers’ minimum wage law, which bans ferries from operating if their employees are not paid the equivalent when docking at UK ports.
The new regulation was welcomed by Sulayem, as it would help the company “because all the competitors have different wages for their crews.”