In his latest Reporter column, Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds writes about how he's been supporting the British workers controversially sacked by shipping company P&O Ferries.

My constituency office is proudly located in Hyde Town Hall. Outside stands a statue paying tribute to the Chartist movement. It reminds me of the origins of the labour movement; workers rising up to demand a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and the political rights necessary to achieve that.

Thanks to the trade union movement, Britain has at times led the way on workers’ rights. Britain invented the weekend, with initially reluctant employers soon discovering that a two-day break from work reduced staff absence and increased productivity.

Labour Governments in Britain subsequently successfully introduced the right to annual leave, the minimum wage, and the right to maternity pay.

However, the path to decent employment practices in the UK has never run completely smoothly, and in the past week, we have witnessed truly terrible behaviour from now Dubai-owned P&O Ferries, who sacked their entire 800 strong workforce, with a view to rehiring cheaper labour internationally to do the same jobs. Staff were given no notice, and informed via video link. Being an employer isn’t easy, but this episode absolutely takes the biscuit, and several constituents have told me they will never use the company again. 

I attended a rally in solidarity with P&O workers, many of whom had years if not decades of loyal service to the company. I worry that if an employer can behave this shamefully without consequence, it will give the green light to bad bosses across the country.

I also wrote to Ministers demanding P&O Ferries are held to account. It has now been confirmed that the Government knew of P&O’s plans to ditch the UK jobs before staff did, and in my view, should have moved to stop them.

In Parliament this week, Labour demanded action. We brought forward a motion to reinstate the P&O workforce reinstated and take legal action against P&O, to ensure P&O’s Government contracts are suspended, to outlaw the fire and rehire practice, and to ensure workers’ rights are strengthened. The Government abstained.

The reason this is so contentious is that when attempts were made last October to outlaw fire and rehire practices, the Government’s central claim in opposing new legislation was that the law did not need to be strengthened. 

This was despite a number of high profile cases of fire and rehire occurring, including at British Gas which affected people here in Tameside. It is surely clear beyond doubt that the law does need to be strengthened.

This is why this is not just about P&O Ferries, but about the wider state of employment in the UK and the role of Government in ensuring security and respect for all. 

This national scandal must be a line in the sand. This is 2022, not Dickensian Britain. The UK simply must have better employment practices than this.

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