(DIR) Home
        
        
       P&O boss admits he couldn't live on £4.87 an hour
        
 (HTM) Source
        
       ----------------------------------------------------------------------
        
       In 2022, P&O Ferries, known for its Dover to Calais route, gained
       notoriety when it made 786 staff redundant before replacing them with
       people on lower wages.
        
       The move led to a public outcry and prompted the government to create
       legislation aimed at preventing similar mass sacking happening in the
       future.
        
       On Tuesday, Mr Hebblethwaite told MPs that the agency workers P&O now
       uses to crew its boats can be paid as little as £4.87 a hour- that
       includes overtime and bonuses. On average, P&O workers make £5.20 an
       hour.
        
       The chief executive said crew is paid in excess of the minimum basic
       wage set out by international law.
        
       “We are paying considerably ahead of the international standard," he
       said.
        
       But Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, accused Mr
       Hebblethwaite of "robbing your staff blind".
        
       The chief executive was also asked whether he felt like "a modern day
       pirate" by the committee chair.
        
       In the UK, the minimum wage rose to £11.44 an hour in April but many
       crew members who work for P&O Ferries are recruited by an external
       agency from overseas, including from India and the Philippines.
        
       Mr Hebblethwaite said: "We are paying considerably ahead of the
       international minimum standard.
        
       "We believe that it is right that as an international business
       operating in international waters, we should be governed by
       international law."
        
       "In British waters when the law changes we’ll pay national minimum
       wage. We already pay national minimum wage on domestic routes," Mr
       Hebblethwaite added.
        
       “It’s a minimum wage for UK workers, we recruit from an
       international field and operate in international waters.”
        
       Labour MP Andy McDonald responded saying he understood the point he
       P&O Ferries boss was making, but added: "It just appears to this
       committee that you’re getting away with what amounts to modern day
       slavery.”
        
       Mr Hebblethwaite said that he “categorically” resisted the claim.
        
        
        
        
       ______________________________________________________________________
                                                 Served by Flask-Gopher/2.2.1