Sheikh shuts down P&O Ferries in battle with unions

The ruler of Dubai is locked in a battle with one of Britain's most militant trade unions after P&O Ferries, which is owned by his government, sacked 800 staff on board its ships.

Workers barricaded themselves on ferries in Dover, Hull and Larne following a decision by the operator to make them redundant and replace them with cheaper agency workers.

All of the company's voyages have been cancelled for at least a week as a result of the turmoil, forcing holidaymakers and lorry drivers to use alternative routes.

It sets Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and one of the world's richest men, up for a clash with the notorious RMT union led by Mick Lynch, who has previously called for

unions to "make a militant stand and use the strike weapon wherever it’s appropriate".

A spokesman for Boris Johnson condemned P&O's actions, saying they were "completely unacceptable".

P&O dispatched security staff trained in using handcuffs to remove employees following a long-running dispute over pay, with foreign workers hired to replace them waiting aboard buses parked

nearby.

In an emergency statement to the House of Commons, the transport minister Robert Courts said he was “extremely concerned and frankly angry” at P&O’s treatment of its workforce.

He added: "In taking this decision to make seafarers redundant, P&O have also today informed us they will be suspending services for approximately a week to 10 days while they locate new

crew."

Mr Courts warned freight companies and travellers that they should expect disruption at ports over the coming days.

P&O’s parent is DP World, which is owned by Dubai World. It is in turn owned by the government of Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed is not involved in the day-to-day running of the business. Representatives for the Dubai government did not comment on the redundancies.

P&O insisted that the business was not viable in its current state. A spokesman said: “We have made a £100m loss year on year. This is not sustainable.”

After being a frequent visitor to the UK, where he was regularly spotted attending horse-racing meetings in the Queen’s box, Sheikh Mohammed was hit by High Court allegations in March 2020

that he abducted his daughters and threatened his former wife, Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain. He was later ordered to pay £554m as part of a divorce settlement.

Chris Bryant, Labour MP on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "It feels like the Sheikh has a beef against the UK, but this is no way to treat ordinary workers.

"Decent standards of behaviour should apply across the world, and if people like him want to be respected, they need to adopt worldwide standards. There is quite a queue for pariah states at

the moment, and he wouldn't want to be edging up to the front."

Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, urged the Government to "hold their feet to the fire and make them obey every dot and comma of employment law".

He added: “It is absolutely appalling the way they have behaved. I suspect that what is more likely is that this is a wealthy owner saying: 'Well, I do what I like'. 

"That is why Sheikh Mohammed is so unpopular anyway. Because he is an arrogant man. And an extremely unpleasant man.

"When I asked the question of the chief executive [of P&O Ferries] today: 'Why can the other ferries operate successfully?' The answer was: 'Oh, well they have a different business model.'”

DP World plays a key role in the Government's freeport initiative as part of its levelling-up agenda.

Responding to whether the sackings would lead to the UK terminating its freeport contracts with DP World, Mr Courts told the Commons: "Conversations about freeports would have to take place

across Government."

Ministers were first told about P&O's decision to sack staff on Wednesday night. It is a major embarrassment for Mr Johnson and comes just hours after he visited the United Arab Emirates to

discuss increasing oil production.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World chairman and chief executive, attacked the UK Government shortly after pandemic restrictions brought the P&O’s operations to a standstill.

“The Government has been slow. We need to safeguard these jobs - a lot of people's lives depend on this company," he said.

He appealed for £150m of UK taxpayer support just weeks after DP World paid a £270m dividend to investors, the largest being the Dubai state with an 80pc shareholding.

At the time A DP World spokesman told the Guardian the dividends related “to a delisting process, which was announced pre-Covid-19 and which DP World is legally obliged to pay”.

Last week, DP World, which also runs ports and cargo logistics, proposed paying a $275m (£210m) dividend after posting a strong set of financial results in 2021. DP World said on Thursday

that it had not received a dividend from P&O.

During the pandemic P&O furloughed 1,400 of its staff, at a cost of £10m to the British taxpayer. P&O said its survival was dependent on "making swift and significant changes now".

"We have made a £100m loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "It just makes my blood boil. It is a complete betrayal of the workforce. It's just disgusting.

"This is a company that had furlough [money] during the Covid crisis. It is absolutely disgusting what they are trying to do. They mustn't be allowed to get away with it.

The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said: "It is beneath contempt. The action of thugs."