All ferries have been docked and not sailing until a major announcement. ITV News are reporting that all staff will be terminated and an agency will take over instead.
Edit -
800 staff sacked, they’ve also got coach’s laden with agency staff at 2 ports waiting to board vessels to get them up and running
It’s pretty insane 800 people can just be told while on the job “you’re fired” to use agency staff with fewer legal protections.
I hope the staff push back, though I suspect there’s nothing that can be done. Perhaps unfair dismissal?
Done deal
Unions warned a potential standoff could develop, having instructed crew not to leave vessels, while coaches of replacement crew and security staff are already in place at Dover and Hull.
Having recently been laid off from my job, I feel their pain and I hope they can all find something else quickly as I did
All being made redundant it seems 
So not sure there’s grounds for unfair dismissal.
Aren’t there laws around redundancy if you’re then going to hire the same positions again though?
I think outsourcing is different - as you’re not hiring people. You’re paying a company to do that.
In this instance TUPE should then apply. Which involves a 30 day consultation and staff getting first refusal of the jobs with the new company.
I think the operators have decided that the potential fines for breach of contract/TUPE are worth it overall.
NAL - I don’t think TUPE applies here though, because P&O have not been bought out, nor have P&O been providing the service (on behalf of someone else) to their ferries.
The TUPE examples are mostly around a cleaning company, if the company that were cleaning a hotel gets changed to another, then that may be grounds for TUPE - if the original cleaning company is going to make people redundant as a result - I believe.
As I said, not a lawyer, but just my thoughts from what I do know. Quite a few companies did it in the past for outsourcing call centre etc.
TUPE applies where there is a “service provision change” which can include the initial outsourcing or second generation provider changes.
Oh and I forgot to add: it also can apply in “in sourcing” if you change your mind and bring the service back in house.
Heard on local news ( Northern Ireland) private security firm has been sent into remove workers from ship in larne, country Antrim. It’s crazy been sacked by a video call
There’s a loop hole which allows them to do this, TUPE and any other regulations don’t apply unfortunately.
What’s the loophole?
I believe its because the people are technically employed in Jersey and/or the vessel travels in international waters.
Ooooh interesting. The laws of the country of registration apply I believe so I wonder what Jerseys laws are (compared to ours). TUPE started as an EU law so I would’ve thought it would be common.
I bet there are a lot of lawyers wrangling over this right now 
Yeah I am just going by bits I have heard on the radio while working (I think they said Jersey), its all a mess and RMT think they will win unfair dismissal potentially but P&O have possibly factored that in.
P&O would have massively over thought every potential thing that could come back at them.
Yeah that’s what I reckon too. Whatever rules they have broken they are prepared to pay the fine rather then do the hard slow work.
I once had to work on a teeny tiny version of this (less then a dozen affected employees) after an outgoing service provider made some clear threats about damage they would do during notice. We had to change all the access keys and pay the affected staff damages.
I guess someone has to think of the needs of the Sultan who owns it. Apparently he hasn’t had a dividend for years! Poor guy.