- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
P&O Ferries axes UK jobs to stay afloat, sparking angry protests
P&O Ferries, which sails daily between Britain and France, on Thursday axed 800 UK crew with immediate effect and suspended services in a bid to stay afloat, sparking protests from angry staff and trade union fury.
The Dubai-owned group announced it has shed more than one quarter of its staff in a drastic restructuring to save cash, and halted services for the next few days.
"We are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices," the company owned by DP World said in a bombshell statement.
P&O -- which is based in the southern English port of Dover and operates four routes serving Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands -- has suspended passenger and freight ships.
The company was badly hit over the last two years by the Covid pandemic, which ravaged the travel sector with multiple lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Earlier Thursday at Dover, local P&O management had revealed "the dismissal of 800 British sailors" who would be replaced by cheaper Colombian crew and temporary staff in order to slash costs, according to a French union source.
The source stressed that French workers would be unaffected.
Security agents later escorted affected P&O personnel from Dover facilities, while 100 Colombians and 40 temporary workers boarded the group's ferries that were stationed there, the source added.
- 'Wholly unacceptable' -
The company's move brought cross-party condemnation. Transport minister Robert Courts told parliament that the way staff had been treated was "wholly unacceptable".
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the government was seeking urgent talks with the company, which justified its move because it was facing a £100 million ($131 million, 119 million euro) loss, making its business unviable.
The main opposition Labour party's transport spokeswoman, Louise Haigh, said the company was "beneath contempt" but said it was the "cruel consequence" of the Conservative government's failure to outlaw "fire and rehire" practices.
P&O said its losses had been covered by DP World but the situation was "not sustainable".
"Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries," it added.
The company was forced to take "a very difficult but necessary decision... after seriously considering all the available options".
P&O has assured it was not heading for liquidation after ordering all ships to return to dock.
The RMT union added that security guards with handcuffs had been seeking to board ships in Dover to remove crew members.
- Staff 'fuming' -
Police were meanwhile forced to intervene when dozens of P&O staff blocked a key road leading to Dover after P&O buses carrying agency workers appeared at the port.
"I'm fuming, to be honest with you," said one 54-year-old engine room worker, who has been with P&O since the 1980s, angry at how staff were told.
"This is no way to treat people. It was just a short message this morning saying you've all lost a job, basically -- all this service for nothing."
Elsewhere, sailors in the northern English port of Hull refused to leave their P&O vessel 'The Pride Of Hull', according to local lawmaker Karl Turner, who called the company's actions "disgraceful".
- 'Fire and rehire' -
Britain's biggest public sector union Unite urged P&O to reconsider the "savage" decision "to dismiss its entire UK seafaring workforce to replace them with cheaper labour".
Although its members are not affected, it said it was a "very concerning signal" that UK labour contracts were "under attack".
Transport workers' trade union TSSA also lashed out, adding P&O had encouraged staff to re-apply for agency work under what it described as a "fire and rehire" policy.
"This is absolutely despicable behaviour from P&O, designed to reduce pay, and worsen terms and conditions for their staff," said TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes.
"They should be ashamed of themselves, treating loyal and hardworking staff like this."
He added: "In any civilised country these actions would not only be unlawful but punishable in the harshest possible terms. Sadly, I doubt the Tory government will lift even their little finger to ensure this happens."
Ng.A.Adebayo--CPN