FERRY operator P&O last night faced widespread criticism for the manner in which it summarily sacked 800 seafaring staff.
Many of the crew on the company's vessels were involved in stand-offs as they refused to leave their ships.
P&O's shock announcement yesterday morning saw the operator halt its cross-channel ferries in Britain and Ireland, including Dublin.
It plans to replace sacked staff with agency workers and has said it will resume its Larne-Cairnryan service some time over the next week.
Concerns were also voiced for the future of a small number of land-based staff at Larne Port, which is also owned by P&O. However, it is understood that assurances have been given port workers jobs are safe.
P&O's MV European Causeway vessel, which was scheduled to sail to Scotland early yesterday, remained on the dockside at the Co Antrim post last night, around 30 permanent employees having left earlier in the day. Its sister ship, the MV European Highlander was meanwhile tied-up at Cairnryan.
In England, there were reports of security guards wearing balaclavas and carrying handcuffs being deployed to remove some staff, who had been informed of their immediate redundancy via Zoom.
The ferry operator, bought by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World in 2019, insisted the decision to cut jobs was "very difficult but necessary".
A statement from P&O Ferries said: "We have made a £100 million loss year-on-year, which has been covered by our parent, DP World. This is not sustainable.
"Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries."
But the company's treatment of its workers drew widespread criticism.
East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson said: "The way in which staff were removed from the ships is totally unacceptable and is not how any employer should treat their employees.
"Despite operating purely between UK ports, P&O will now be paying third world wages to their crew. This raises serious concerns about the company’s morality."
Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald described the company's behaviour as "nothing short of shameful".
"P&O must be held accountable for these unscrupulous actions and the British government needs to take action in defence of these workers," she said.
Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson called on the Department for the Economy to engage with P&O "over the future of the harbour and any potential ramifications for the port".
"I am deeply disappointed in how P&O have handled this entire episode, showing underhanded behaviour which is not acceptable at best and draconian measures to remove staff at worst – there appears to have been no consultation done with staff or unions over this move," he said.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the treatment of workers had been "abominable".
"P&O claim this decision is the result of lost earnings, but their parent company raked home nearly £700 million profit last year," he said.
"This is the brutal reality for workers in a free market system which prioritises profit above all else."
Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs said he had never heard of a company treating its staff and customers so poorly.
He called on the secretary of state and British transport secretary to "step in to ensure that the vital Larne-Cairnryan ferry service continues and that staff are fairly treated."
“There is also an urgent need to clarify the status of staff at both the Port of Larne and those at the Port of Cairnryan," he said.
SDLP East Antrim representative Siobhán McAlister said: "This is a display of total contempt towards these workers and it is reprehensible that an employer is able to act in this way."
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said employers "cannot be given free rein to sack workers and replace them with agency staff".
In addition to its North Channel route, P&O Ferries operates three others: Dover to Calais; Hull to Rotterdam; and Liverpool to Dublin.
