Thursday, 17 March 2022

P&O

Another little test for Boris.

If he does nothing about the the 800 employees of P&O Ferries who were turfed off their ships in favour of cheaper Eastern European crews today, then I will give up on thinking he could ever redeem himself.

How about going after Middle Eastern oligarchs, or is his nose stuck up their arses so far that a seemly withdrawal is now economically impossible? 

Christ, he was never equipped to deal with even the aftermath of Brexit, let alone a full-scale war in Europe.

30 comments:

  1. Whatever happens they should never have been just summarily sacked on the same day

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    1. Corporate ethics have just disappeared along with political morality. What a time we live in.

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    2. The RMT will have to sort it. There are rules and procedures that don't appear to have been followed. The timing of the announcement appears significant to me in that Johnson visited the UAE 24 hours ago. P&O picked the day after on purpose for sure.

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    3. Like every other injustice it will be swept under the carpet until it is forgotten.

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    4. The significance to me about the timing of the announcement is that P&O is UAE owned so it was made after Johnson's visit and whatever agreements he made about oil supply and we are now over a barrel, pun not intended but apt.

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    5. Yes. That’s why we won’t do a thing about it. Already they are talking about helping the 800 with their benefits claims - the very day after.

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  2. I hope the pension scheme is alright. It wasn't a few months back.

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  3. Replies
    1. Except continue to smooth the path for the people who bankrolled him.

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  4. Boris confiscating an oligarchy yacht would be worth the price of admission.

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    1. They suggested housing Ukrainian refugees on confiscated Russian yachts, but that sounds too much like revolution.

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    2. Seize oligarchy assets worldwide and use the money to rebuild Ukraine.

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    3. All the oligarch's assets combined would not provide enough cash to rebuild a small fraction of what would be required to rebuild Ukraine, even to date.

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  5. We are going down the Drain of Despair! Morality has hit the bottom in this country, sending thugs to escort the crews off ship, and a 'sacking' by video. Spineless cowards.

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  6. I thought when a job became redundant it no longer existed and the same post could not be filled for 6 months. Of course P&O is owned by a UAE government owned company so like the oligarchs can get away with murder.

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    1. We can make whatever rules we like but we can no longer enforce them.

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  7. That there were security 'thugs' sent in and the message of sacking was delivered via the computer, just shows how far capitalism sinks to get cheap labour to do the work. It must be very hard for British people to understand what happens when you sell the silver to outside forces and other countries.

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    1. We are beginning to understand. My water supply is controlled by the Malaysian government.

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  8. We are finding out what 'global Britain' really means now. Of course it is no coincidence that the Dubai company who owns P&O behaved like this the day after Boris Johnson went cap in hand to the UAE to beg for more oil. This is not only a deliberate insult, it is a gesture which illustrates how low we have sunk in the eyes of the world.

    We are on our own now and should expect this sort of treatment more and more in the months to come. Boris is hardly likely to punish the Middle East by withholding sales of weaponry. It is one of the only guaranteed sources of income for the UK in this turbulent world.

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  9. Oil dependence and supply is driving lots of change worldwide. Acquiring oil from sources other than Russia is creating fallout. That said, there must be some protections for people hurt by the change. Employment law?

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    1. EU laws no longer apply to us when it comes to protecting UK nationals.

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    2. I think employment law remains in place unchanged at present and there is also contract law as well.

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    3. I am told tonight by a sea-faring friend that P&O are registered in a tax haven (possibly Jersey) and as such have different commitments to laws governing the usual ones which apply to everyone else on the mainland of the UK. He seems to think that what DP World have done is legal.

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    4. Oh, quite possible. I'll take a look tomorrow.

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    5. It looks like Sheik Mohammed gets away scot free, unanswerable and the mess is left with us, and the future is take it or leave it. Businesses in foreign hands, especially sheiks, is not recommended.

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    6. The Eastern European agency workers who were bussed in (all dressed in orange boiler suits!) will be paid £2.60 per hour. There are no minimum wage laws at sea. Perhaps we should offer them much better jobs as fruit-pickers at around £10 per hour (or more if they are quick) - oh, I just remembered, we can't unless they are Ukrainian.

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    7. Maritime arrangements that go on across the oceans of the world are not on for ships working to and fro the English Channel and the North Sea.

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    8. But can they get away with it? Seems so.

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  10. A interesting aside.. apparently some agency workers have been refusing to board the ships...I would like to know more about that

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    1. Yes, I heard one Eastern European agency worker say he would not take the job once he knew the circumstances, but only one.

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