GB: P&O Ferries lays off 800 people | Photo credits: Ibex73 / CC BY-SA 4.0
by William James and Muvija M
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) – Shipping company P&O Ferries, which provides a link between France and the United Kingdom, announced on Thursday the layoff of 800 people and the suspension of its crossings for the next few days.
P&O, which employs nearly 4,000 people and operates more than 30,000 crossings a year, said it lost £100m (€118m) in one year and considers its business no longer viable in its current form. .
The announcements caused delays at the UK’s busiest port of Dover as unions urged their members not to leave the company’s ships, in response to news reports that laid-off staff would be replaced by temporary workers.
The company declined to comment on this information. (Report Muvija M and William James; French version Valentine Baldassari, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)