What happened in the end……? Did they get away with it, that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
Used them cross channel and Rotterdam previously, but if I had to I wouldn’t use them on the grounds of what’s happened and safety concerns about the qualifications of the ships new crews.

They got all their ferries back into service in dribs and drabs and in the general panic about long delays at Dover at the start of the school holidays it was pretty much forgotten about.

So yes, they got away with it, though no doubt plenty of folk are boycotting them.

I think in the end they were all offered compensation but it’s no excuse for sacking them, it only needs another company who want to change terms and conditions to go down the same road with no come back.
Part of the reason the Tories wanted out of the EU is do away with all the Employment laws that protected workers rights.
The Tories want to go back to the days like the characters in the book The Ragged Trouser Philanthropist by Robert Trestle bearing in mind we have some thing similar called Zero Hours Contracts.

I think I’m more concerned about the standards of operational crew on board.
The catering side has been employing Far East staff for at least 15 years.
One good thing is Irish Ferries are running on the route Dover to Calais, always decent services on there.

Really??? I don't get involved in the shite politics normally on this board but if that is a genuine belief then I have to question it!

Employment law is still in force so that’s not the reason.
It’s so simple, P&O re-register their ferries from the UK flag to those of Cyprus, Bahama’s and Bermuda flags, flags of convenience….... outside of the UK or even EU control, the staff are paid through a Jersey based holding company.
In effect, this apparently British company, isn’t anymore in my eyes.

Pre EU workers were working long hours with no proper meal breaks, no holiday pay and forced to work long hours or be shown the door. Overtime is a ‘disease’ among U.K. workers, generally never mind the rate what’s the hours, is Sunday on etc instead of focusing on the rate so there is no need to work long hours.

The denial follows a report in the Financial Times today (15 January) that a package of de-regulatory measures is being put together inside government departments, with the approval of Downing Street. The main focus (for now at least) seems to be on rights derived from the EU Working Time Directive – such as the maximum 48-hour working week, rest breaks and the inclusion of rest breaks in holiday pay calculations.

Now is the time to improve workers’ rights and their enforcement. Instead, this Brexit deal does the precise opposite, giving the Tories even more freedom to undermine labour rights in the UK.

We didn’t need the EU then or now, they didn’t get us our rights, the unions did. I was working long before EU interference in working times was dreamed of. I was never forced to work overtime by any of the company’s I worked for and overtime was offered when demand temporarily increased. Easier to offer overtime than employ extra staff for a couple of weeks.
I was a shop steward and some very well paid staff thrived on overtime, it was a problem getting the thick sods to understand overtime is NOT a right, but an occasional necessity
.My dad when at sea worked for a Canadian company for a few years and in the early sixties they were interviewing in the UK for staff in Canada and the UK, he was surprised that the most asked question was about how much overtime was available …..
The down trodden workers ain’t dumb, they like the extra cash in their pocket, the EU was interfering in their ability to make extra money at double overtime rates.
I thought the EU was ok at one time but now I see it as just a woke patronising middle class dream factory.

I worked in the construction/engineering industry, an industrial nomad my choice in my later years some employers started using employment agencies for labour. Basically they could hire and fire you as they liked with out notice, no holiday pay, they said that was included in the rate. This was against EU Law and it was sorted out eventually and agencies had to toe the line.

The European Union has the second largest economy in the world, behind that of the United States. Trade within the Union accounts for more than one-third of the world total.
The U.K. are going to be isolated and the EU will impose tariffs on U.K. goods there is talk of trade deals with Australia. That would be disaster as Australia would flood the U.K. market with cheap meat products which nearly half have been pumped up with growth hormones and put farmers out of business in the U.K.

Going back to brexit, immigration has actually increased since the vote, Farage standing on the coast saying we will stop immigration, the fella can’t even get into Parliament. His current job is with GB News a very right wing tv company.
Going back to P&O, they didn’t sack any French workers, yes the French workers might be over the top but the workers don’t lie down and take it up the a***.

The government are blaming the French for delays at the Ports, nope, instead of showing your Passport like before it has to be checked and stamped. The U.K. government has said the French should hire extra staff, why should they go to extra expense which the U.K. brought on itself.

The vast majority of workers rights in country were fought for and earned by the unions.
The EU are like the clowns at the circus coming along to roll up the carpet after the main act’s (the unions) performance and claiming the applause for themselves.

[quote="Snowy"]We didn’t need the EU then or now, they didn’t get us our rights, the unions did. I was working long before EU interference in working times was dreamed of. I was never forced to work overtime by any of the company’s I worked for and overtime was offered when demand temporarily increased. Easier to offer overtime than employ extra staff for a couple of weeks.
can only talk about passenger transport which was the industry i spent most of my life in. tha EU was never needed as there were different drivers hours regulations that went back pre war. they become more stringent as the years went by but were certainly never liked by many that the laws were there to protect. it just stopped some of their overtime opportunities. actually conditions got worse with extra regulations with the maximum you could drive on one stint without a break became 5 and a half hours. management just said it was legal which it was and we were stuck with em. no one really minded working shifts without breaks as you always made time for something to eat and drink. all that happened was a 12.30 finish ended up being a 2o,clock one and lates started just after 3 instead of 4.30. actually the 48 hour maximum could be signed away if an employee wished.

Thatcher removed most of the power of the unions albeit some were becoming too powerful, Truss is saying she is going to ‘clamp’ down even more.
Snowy in our day of big industry and large employees the unions could fight for some of our rights as there were lots of union members.
Nowadays union membership has slumped and the average person is brain washed by what they read in the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Sun, StarTelegraph all right wing Tory supporting newspapers.
Whilst admittedly the unions did manage to get us tea breaks, increase in wages that has diminished as most employers are non unionised and can do what they like. You don’t like working here no problem plenty out there who will.
People have mortgages way in excess of what we would ever dream of having, new cars probably 2 sitting on the drive. Dear me mention union, strikes etc and they s*** bricks as they live from month to month.

think things vary from industry to industry. some are constantly moaning about their inability to get people to do the job. if that is the case then the fear of mass unemployment after covid didn,t happen or a refusal by some to work in places that never had a strong union presence anyway.

Snowy wrote ="I think everyone should experience a year on the dole, no safety net, it sharpens your priorities and wakes you up"

This is a very good point i and a few others have experienced something like this and yes you do wake up and change your opinions.

Agree with everything you say Snowy apart from the first one, when I was working in the cabins all the lads had newspapers Sun being number 1, then the Express and the Star not many Mails though.

The last one, I experienced spells on the dole in between projects, it wasn’t too bad before Thatcher stopped the Related Earnings where your dole was calculated on the last few weeks at work, she stopped that and it was just the basic dole money. I believe this is still the case in some European countries and also the States.

The last time I signed on I got this woman from hell at the J.C first of all she said my CV was no good, I could have said I can earn potentially more in a week than you get a month with that C.V. plus most of my jobs were got through word of mouth, my C.V. was secondary.

She then proceeded to tell me I had to show evidence I was applying for 14 jobs every 2 weeks. I never dealt with her again, I reported her to her line manager for her attitude.
It went ok first time round, girl on desk looked over what I was applying for, there wasn’t 14 job applications but she never bothered. Next time was different I was pulled in for interview asking why I hadn’t met the criteria of the 14 job applications. I got round that by submitting agencies who I said I had submitted CVS to, no problem. This was for £70 a week, I only signed on to keep my NI Credits upto date, I gave up in the end.
I went back to work after around 6 weeks, I never bothered signing on again, I am sure the staff are trained up to discourage you from claiming. They know there are certain people who they can never get of benefits but pick on people who are genuinely out of work from no fault of their on.

2 Ken Loach fillums summed up what it’s like for people trying to make a living and not live on benefits. I Daniel Blake, deemed to be unfit for work a joiner by trade by his GP due to his heart problems but deemed by the Benefits people he could,The other one was Sorry I Missed You about the parcel delivery fella being put under immense pressure by his boss to get his deliveries done.

That just leaves the Daily Mirror and the A-team of Corbyn,Abbott ,Rayner and McDonnell .What are they rambling on about today 52?

The only person in our street that gets a newspaper delivered is 87. He gets the Times.
I sometimes buy a paper on holiday, to do the crossword but even that is rare.
The barber had the Sun on offer but since the lockdown our lass has cut me hair and I must say she does an excellent job.
Newspapers are a thing of the past.

Nothing unusual here.Agencies had to toe the line? .Work for the firm or self-employed all rates differ a bit,holidays you have take into account with the rate.

Shame about the Daily Sport eh.

It doesn’t matter who is the Labour Party leader unless the media/press support them they have little chance or no chance of returning to be the government of the U.K.

At your age that shouldn't bother you. Unless your nurse is slipping you the little blue pill.
Mind you she simply might be trying to stop you falling out of bed. There's always side effects !!!!!!

[quote="Sussex UK"]

That just leaves the Daily Mirror and the A-team of Corbyn,Abbott ,Rayner and McDonnell .What are they rambling on about today 52? [/quote

Following Starmer's takeover, Corbyn isn't even a member of the Labour Party and Mc Donnell and Abbott are almost as far out in the cold. You got one out of four with Rayner but do try a bit harder to keep up!

You're having a laugh,nobody crosses them,they're the backbone of the Labour party.Do keep up.

That just leaves the Daily Mirror and the A-team of Corbyn,Abbott ,Rayner and McDonnell .What are they rambling on about today 52? [/quote]

It doesn’t matter who is the Labour Party leader unless the media/press support them they have little chance or no chance of returning to be the government of the U.K.[/quote]




Starmer's only contribution to politics the past couple years has been to criticise Boris's drinks party jamie..

Come on ……with the first points, the lads were looking at the tits, they weren’t that common then.
I suspect the date the dole was changed was a lot later and not under Thatcher. I was off for two years in the 80’s never got a bit of hassle and they paid for me to do my A levels in History and English Lit….. got a job , but it taught me a valuable lesson, nowt’s secure.
Next and only time was in 2009 for a month and I got more chew than the two years in the 80’s……. Serious hassle and they told me I didn’t qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance….I told them it’s mandatory for six months, the girl didn’t know the meaning of the word, saw her supervisor who said I did qualify…… but how many poor sods just walked away?
That was under Tony and Gordon.

My eldest used to get money off me for that tit rag when he was 13 and idiot me thought it was about sport….his brother grassed him up, as brothers do.

totally agree with that. i suffered the same when i had to sign on after losing my job through no fault of my own, medical. i must have really wound them up as i always dressed well for the job centre and stood out like a saw thumb. it was funny how the obvious season ticket holders went in and out in less than a minute where i was interrogated in a manner the gestapo would have been proud of. i was prepared to do anything as well as long as it was office or driving related but certainly not being trained in my late 50,s to do shop or cafe stuff. told em i have not got the sir and madam temperament and i,d be wasting my time and there,s. took em a few weeks to get it into their thick heads.

The staff are monitored on a monthly basis they have to show they have a certain number of people of Job Seekers one way or another.

was also told they were stricter with applicants from low unemployment areas than ones with high unemployment.

Only was out of work for a period Aug 81 to Nov 81 in all my working life and didn't "sign on" as been told by friends it was too much aggravation. Had 2 young kiddies at the time but was confident I would find another rep's job fairly quickly.

I’m still surprised at several people Imknow who have never worked and been on benefits all their lives. I know they’re ‘healthy’, but the job centre got to the stage where they must just write them off.
We were interviewing for staff in 2014 and after going through the candidates took several on, decent lads but the chap from the job centre accompanying them had one extra and asked if we’d interview him ….. he appeared dead keen and was willing to try his hand at anything he just wanted a job, but it didn’t ring true.
Asked the chap from the job centre and pushed him a bit further….apparently he always had expensive ‘accidents,’ nothing dangerous, just expensive.within days of starting, resulting in dismissal.
He never left a job, he was always ‘unsuitable.

I was on the dole once for about 5 months partly in Darlo and then Brixton .. a couple of visits to the latter was enough to scare me into taking up the first shite job that was available.

The aforesaid people who some how manage to go through life with out working and living on benefits will qualify for the full State Pension providing they registered when they had to for NI Credits. What makes my blood boil is you need very little savings before you are disqualified for benefits like Pension Credit etc. These people will probably have little or no savings and can claim any benefits going.

snowy mentioned a bloke classed as unsuitable. back in the good old days of the late 50,s and the 60,s jobs were so plentiful in most areas of the country where you could leave on a friday unemployed but start somewhere else on the monday. people found something they were suitable at doing and many enjoyed it. with years of more unemployment and schools giving kids overexpectant ideas for their future we have ended up with so many round pegs in square holes and people either doing as little as possible or avoiding work altogether. problem is there is no answer anymore.

Hi Mr Accy, you've just made me laugh.

I thought it was square pegs in round holes but your reverse take on the phrase sounds much better.

I had a young woman , well spoken but entitled, sent on a 6 month training scheme in 2015 from the Jobcentre. I explained the hours were 35 hours a week, 9 till 4 and she’d have to work alternate Saturdays. She listened to me in stony silence and then produced her I pad from her bag and proceeded to tell me Monday and Friday afternoons were unacceptable because she attended ‘Dance Studio’, Saturdays were her only free day for her boyfriend to meet up with her and Thursdays she visited friends, but she’d try and make it for the rest.
She was supposed to arrive at 9 that morning but came in just after 9.30, I told her she was late, she just replied “am I?”she was out the front door before 10, she said she was going to contact her MP. Good luck.

you obviously have never witnessed my attempts at D I Y where getting stuff front to arse was my forte.

bit like the chief constable of northamptonshire saying he has difficulty finding the right applicants as they do not want to work nights, weekends or getting into confrontational situations. surely the criminals in that county should show more regard for the cops by staying at home at the times they do not wish to work.

You need a degree now don’t you?
A sergeant told me all he required was someone who could handle themselves and shovels full of common sense.
I was informed of one new batch of recruits who on receiving their shift patterns were amazed to find they had to work nights and weekends..shock horror, do they think the police close at 4 am on a Friday till 9 am on Monday?
You don’t need a degree to work that out Sherlock

Years ago when there were plenty of jobs available no one or very few people went to uni, you could leave school at 16 and start a job the following week, when the engineering base was destroyed that all stopped. Now it’s school, college, uni and by the time the kids are 21 years old have no idea of work ethics, BTW you need to be up at 6, shock horror for most well the ones who have found employment.

Blame Tony, he wanted 50% of all school leavers to go to uni for a degree, result, every one horse Polytechnic became a Uni overnight. The thing is we need more technical training, we need to produce things to sell, the Germans have cracked it, they don’t have them graduating with useless degrees in Media Studies and other useless subjects.
I found out a couple of years ago that I did more hours in college in the classroom on day release in a day than the average student gets in a week. That is shocking. And don’t get me going over fees

Yes Blair quoted education education education but at the end of the day there needs to be jobs after all that education.
Technical training is great, I did my training on the job with 1 day a off week paid for at the college, after that it was 1 day of for college no pay or night school. Being 18 years old I wasn’t going to lose a day of no pay and night school meaning missing out on my social life. I can’t remember any of the apprentices I ever worked with doing either.
Fortunately in my day technical qualifications didn’t come into it, it was common sense, it never ever held me back.
Nowadays I believe it’s 2 years solid at college farmed out for a bit then try and find an apprenticeship, most companies don’t want the cost of taking on apprentices nowadays albeit there are jobs like apprentice shelf stackers etc.

I did 5 years at college day and night classes and got paid for them, we did have an incentive to go, called the sack. If you failed your end of year exams you were out.
Electronics and nucleonics were especially boring, but necessary, but bore little resemblance to the practical application. I was just relieved when I got though at the end.
But having 50% at Uni studying useless degrees as opposed to relevant degrees was a cock up.

love to hear these new age parents who once their little johnnie or jemima are born they open a bank account for them. the reason is that its money for when they go to uni. this university thing seems to have become part of a kids life where it used to be school to 15 or 16, staying on for A levels for the brighter ones and the top few went to university and studied a proper course for their future working lives. now almost anyone can go and that where the problem starts. they do a pointless course but come out with a degree at 21. once they have a degree after being sold the education line you cannot blame em for not wanting to do some mundane job in a warehouse or supermarket. if they had left at 16 they might have been happy to take on anything.

I have a niece, left school at 16 minimum qualifications, started on the tills, stacking shelves etc. at Tesco. She has moved up the ladder now in a management position on a decent salary, no uni, no degree was necessary.

Some companies are like that yet others have strict entry requirements based on academic qualifications. I was miffed when the Station Managers job at the Power Station came up and they told me my CSE in Physics was insufficient.

Try again…..the way grades are going a CSE in physics is probably equivalent to a Masters.

If this prediction was made by a Bunkerite they would come in for some stick.
https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/ ... 2Ry2Gn6TpA

Ha ha can’t stop laughing, what part of that prediction has come true ?
"Ok let's try again. If I have Trade
Deals with 27 of my closest
neighbours worth £670 billion,
then I lose all those 27 deals and
start up a deal worth £500 million
over 15 years with a country
10,000 miles away, what do I
have?"