by Kate Holton
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) – The United Kingdom said on Monday it would force ferry operators docking in the UK to pay a minimum wage as efforts intensify for P&O Ferries to back off the surprise layoff of 800 employees and replacing them with cheaper labour.
The shipping line, owned by Dubai port company DP World, is set to break the law by replacing workers with lower-paid interim staff, after losing £100million last year due to pandemic restrictions of COVID-19.
The government has condemned the move and urged the company to reverse its decision as Britons face rising inflation and taxes.
As P&O indicated its new crews would earn some £5.50 an hour, Grant Shapps, the UK’s Transport Secretary, announced a bill ‘dooming’ P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite’s plan .
This bill plans to raise from next month to at least 9.50 pounds – the national minimum – the salary of most employees of ferry operators operating from British ports. (Report by Kate Holton; French version Dina Kartit, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)