about this is the fact there was no consultation at all, even though the government says, for a company like this size, there should be 45 days of consultation before anyone is made redundant. i think a big gamble for p&o here isjust made redundant. i think a big gamble for p&o here is just what it is going to do to the reputation of the company. we have seen people on social media who have travelled regularly with the ferry firm in the past two are saying they will never buy a ticket with p&o once again, but the company taking a gamble here because they say at the moment they simply cannot carry on losing this amount of money. fuel prices are going up, there are other big costs in staffing, so they have decided to reduce staffing levels. their view is this is the only way to save the company. unions are saying you could have come and talk to us and we could have found a way forward together. could have found a way forward touether. ., , . ., ., ~ together. you very much for taking us
kate palmerfrom peninsula. is what p&o done, is it legal? in terms of issuing a settlement agreement to staff and say you have got by the 31st of march to sign and return this, if that member of staff does, that is a legally enforceable settlement agreement that prevents the employee from pursuing a tribunal claim. but that might not happen. what will be the next step? if it is a case of dismissing you via redundancy, which they have said, they have a lot of unfair dismissal claims on their hands because it has not been run properly. hf because it has not been run properly- because it has not been run roerl. ., ~ ,., ., ., , properly. if workers are not happy with the settlement, properly. if workers are not happy with the settlement, what - properly. if workers are not happy with the settlement, what would l properly. if workers are not happy i with the settlement, what would you advise them? hf with the settlement, what would you advise them? th with the settlement, what would
with annual losses of £100 million and its survival depends on making swift and significant changes. it says it will offer enhanced compensation packages. the government has described the way workers have been treated as wholly unacceptable. it s warning of longer queues to get into dover, but it doesn t believe the supply of critical goods and services will be affected. simon jones, bbc news. simon is in dover for us this morning. good morning. it beggars belief, what is going on, and unsurprisingly demonstrations are expected today. yes, a huge amount of shock, and for a second day running there will be no p&o services between dover and calais, no services at all on any of its roots. what we are likely to see, though, those demonstrations here in dover, also in hull and liverpool. behind me we have three p&0 liverpool. behind me we have three p&o ferries moored up, they are going absolutely nowhere. the
were brought in to force them off. p&o says this drastic action is needed to save the business. it claims the ferry company is making a loss of £100 million a year for its owner which is ultimately the dubai government. during the pandemic, demand for ferries nosedived. p&o did get some help including cash to furlough staff during lockdown. but since then it s paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to shareholders. so the government turned down a recent request for more help. unions say they re planning legal action. i have been in this game 40 years. and the industry never ceases to surprise me and indeed shot me on occasion. this is a new low for a proud maritime nation like the uk. for a once proud company, p&o. it is truly shocking. i am absolutely stunned. so what are workers rights? let s speak to an hr expert
they did not do that, they did not provide the notices, they are using a weasel approach by saying it is flagged to the cypress flag there for those are the ministers we would have to inform. by the way, they did not inform them with 45 days notice either. they simply saying we do care that we broke the law, we did it deliberately, and we will just pay people off for their silence. and none of that is acceptable. so that is very clear then, you are calling for that chief executive to, go and you are also seeing as you stated, here changing the law to protect those workers, and also to ensure that that loophole which p&o exploited is actually closed. minister, let s just talk about some of the main issues that you are also here to discuss. let s talk about the infrastructure of electric cars, and also improvements to technologies such as the charge points. can you update us on some of the changes that you have brought in? yes, we are seeing huge numbers of cars, lots of electric car