Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan and other union representatives joined Dublin-based P&O union representatives at a demonstration he weekend before last.

It followed a call for justice for 800 P&O Ferries workers who were sacked over a Zoom call last month. On Saint Patrick’s Day, management gave staff 30 minutes’ notice of a Zoom meeting, where it told them their contracts were terminated with immediate effect.

The seafarers are being replaced by non-union, agency workers. The British Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represents many P&o staff, subsequently claimed their agency replacements were to be paid as little as £1.80 (or less than €2.20) an hour.

It is understood that at least 60 employees impacted by the sudden termination are from Ireland.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which represents transport unions across the globe, has said the company’s callous actions were lacked “any form of basic decency” and appeared to be a violation of UK labour law and international labour standards.

It has asked for Fórsa members and other trade unionists to sign its petition to pledge solidarity with the workers.

The ITF said no one should lose their livelihood without any warning. “We won’t let this go unchallenged,” it said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said the company’s behaviour “sets a dangerous precedent,” which risked copycat actions by other employers who may seek to lay staff off.

The group of unions representing P&O has sought an urgent meeting with the employer and the UK Government. They are demanding respectful industrial relations and social dialogue to ensure that no worker endures being sacked via Zoom again. It also wants a guarantee that this will not happen in any other DP World subsidiary.

P&O Ferries is a subsidiary of DP World and this action is understood to be part of the parent company’s wider plan for P&O Ferries. The company has suspended sailings “for the next few days.”

ITF general secretary, Stephen Cotton is meeting with DP World in Dubai at the end of the month and will hand deliver its global protest letter directly to its chief executive officer, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.

Please sign the unions’ P&O Global Letter of Protest HERE.