P&O takes the money and runs
The shipping company is laying off a thousand workers on the very routes it is being paid public money to operate.
Shipping companies responsible for bringing essential goods like medical and veterinary supplies into Britain are being given a state subsidy in the form of a critical freight grant payments.
Yet the company which has received the highest amount under this scheme, P&O Ferries, is presently planning to slash 1,100 jobs on the very same routes it is being paid to keep running.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash explained: “The government is supporting ferry companies to the tune of over £33m until mid-July. By that time, P&O Ferries will have put 1,100 workers – mostly seafarers in Dover and Hull – on the dole.” (RMT slams scandal of taxpayer support for P&O shareholders, RMT, 8 June 2020)
So far from being hailed as heroes for their role in safeguarding the passage of essential goods to Britain, these workers are being rewarded with the sack whilst their bosses dip freely into the public purse.
