The sheikh, the unions and the battle for P&O Ferries

A little over a year ago, the High Court in London delivered its verdict on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Dubai’s ruler, concluded one of England’s most senior  judges, had orchestrated the abductions of two of his children - including one off the streets of Cambridge - and subjected his youngest wife to a campaign of “intimidation”.

On Thursday, a company owned by the Dubai state, over which Sheikh Mohammed presides, effectively sacked 800 British staff from P&O Ferries in an unprecedented act of industrial aggression.

P&O’s ferry operation was shut down with immediate effect, leaving passengers stranded, while security guards, trained in the use of handcuffs, were sent aboard ships to remove any mutineering British crew.

One senior MP suggested on Thursday night that the 72-year-old sheikh, once a close friend of the Queen but his reputation now shredded by an English court, may have a “beef against the UK”. P&O’s beleaguered, bewildered workforce might just agree.

P&O Ferries fell prey to the whims of its Dubai overlords after it was bought by DP World, an Emirati logistics company, for £322m in 2019. 

DP World is in turn owned by Dubai World, a global holding company for all manner of investments. 

Dubai World boasts on its website of its commitment “to generating value for our shareholder, the Government of Dubai, with a corporate philosophy in line with the vision set for Dubai by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai”. 

That philosophy, it helpfully added, is “based on sustainability, best ethical practices and integrity”.

In the Commons, MPs decried Dubai’s manouverings. 

“The villain in all of this is P&O and their parent company, DP World, a company owned by anti-trade union oligarchs in Dubai who have a shockingly bad track record in employment relations," said Gavin Newlands, the SNP’s transport spokesman. Downing Street condemned P&O’s actions.

Chris Bryant, Labour MP on the foreign affairs committee, told the Telegraph: "It feels like the Sheikh has a beef against the UK, but this is no way to treat ordinary workers. 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, was scathing of a sheikh, ordered to pay £550m to his ex-wife Princess Haya in December. 

Much of the money was to be used by the princess to protect herself and their two children, against “the grave risk” posed to them by the sheikh himself. 

Details of allegations made against the sheikh, which he denied, were disclosed in a bruising lengthy divorce battle, played out in the English courts.

Sir Roger said on Thursday: "This is why Sheikh Mohammed is so unpopular anyway. Because he is an arrogant man. And an extremely unpleasant man.”

Any passengers stranded on Thursday, some trying to reach Ukraine’s borders with vital aid for refugees, might have wondered about the “integrity” in making redundant 800 staff without any warning in order to replace them with, according to claims, cheaper, foreign labour. 

Sheikh Mohammed, with a personal fortune claimed to be as high as £10bn, will think this is just good business. 

P&O said in a lengthy statement on Thursday it had no choice.

"In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business. We have made a £100m 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,” said the company. 

The result was 800 seafarers being served with “immediate severance notices” and who would receive “enhanced compensation” for the “lack of advance notice”.

The first inkling passengers and workers alike had that there was a problem with P&O came at 7.27am with a message posted on the company’s Twitter feed. 

“Regretfully, P&O Ferries services are unable to run for the next few hours. Our Port Teams will guide you and travel will be arranged via an alternative operator. We apologise for the inconvenience this will have on your journey plans.”

Ministers admitted on Thursday they had been informed of P&O’s plans the night before. But the information was kept secret until the bombshell message on social media, taking everyone by surprise.

Lorry drivers due to sail were diverted onto the ferries of rival operators while P&O ships were kept in port or turned around. Word spread that the company intended to make all its UK staff redundant with foreign crews waiting in the wings to take over.

The RMT, the union representing most of P&O’s workforce, told its members to stay put, leading to standoffs on ships that would last much of the day.

In Hull, the crew of the Pride of Hull refused to budge for the best part of nine hours, occupying the ferry in a sit-in protest. The ferry normally plies the route from Hull to Rotterdam. On Thursday it didn’t move and may not do so for some time.

The first Gaz Jackson, the local RMT organiser for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, knew about it was a phone call at 8am  said the crew were "absolutely devastated" and described P&O's actions as "unacceptable" and "unforgivable". 

"I got a phone call saying something was going to happen at P&O,” Mr Jackson told reporters gathered at the King George Dock in Hull, “I got on board and spoke to the captain and we said we've got to lift the gangway until we've got an agreement.

"At 11am ratings and officers were informed there was going to be a pre-recorded Zoom meeting. After that two to three-minute call all the crew were made redundant. The crew are absolutely devastated. I've seen grown men crying on there because they don't know where they're going to go from today."

It is "very likely", he added, that the new crew "won't be British seafarers".

The video call announcing the sackings lasted less than four minutes. The 800 employees had received an email at 10.30am inviting them to a Microsoft Teams meeting entitled "Important employee announcement".

The video call, begun at 11.10am, informed them they were out of work with immediate effect.

A father-of-two, in his 20s, said: "I had to switch it off. I couldn't watch it to the end. Within about a minute and a half of being on it, they told us we were being sacked.

"We've already been replaced. The new foreign workers are already on board.

"Clearly the company has been planning this behind our backs for a very long time."

Another worker, a woman in her 20s, said: "He was just reading a pre-written statement and then said he would not take any questions at the end. It was heartless."

After that came the security guards, brought in by P&O to remove staff occupying its ferries.

They had been waiting in the wings, it is claimed, before going aboard. In an urgent press release, Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secratry, said: “We are receiving reports that security guards at Dover are seeking to board ships with handcuffs to remove crew so they can be replaced with cheaper labour.”

The security guards had been recruited for a "fairly high profile" job just days earlier, according to an email seen by The Telegraph and circulated in a security company.

"The client we are assisting requires 16 officers (handcuff-trained) to support their security teams in the unlikely event some of their staff become challenging," the email said.

"Essentially, our client will be informing staff of redundancies and there is a possible risk of backlash. You will all need your uniform including cuffs and utility belt. You will not need body armour for this task."

P&O captains, their jobs not under threat, remained loyal to their crew. Some did not let the security guards onboard.

On the Pride of Hull, it wasn’t just the crew stuck on the ship. Danny Palmer, 22, from Nottingham, had only been aboard to fix a vending machine when the gangway was shut. He ended up being locked on the ship for four-and-a-half hours.

Mr Palmer said: "I didn't know what to do. There was a bunch of contractors on the ship so we all got together in the restaurant. We didn't know when we were going to leave, [I'd heard] it could have been two or three days. We felt trapped."

One of the contractors phoned the police but was told that there was nothing they could do.

The field engineer added: "At one point we looked down into the car park and there were a few coaches full of agency workers. There were police and there were workers in the terminal blocking off the roads.”

In Hull, the stand off lasted until the late afternoon when the company agreed to provide paperwork requested by the union. Mr Jackson, the RMT official, praised the captain for his "brave decision" to lift the gangway "for the safety of the crew", saying security guards were "going to pull us off if we weren't going to get off".

Elsewhere ships remained stranded.

P&O ferry European Causeway remained docked at Larne Port in Co Antrim in Northern Ireland while in Dover nothing moved there either. Lorry drivers were shifted to alternative routes to the Continent and police called in after workers blocked a road leading to the Port of Dover. 

Dozens of employees stood on the road holding banners and flags saying "Stop the P&O jobs carve up". Their protest came after buses carrying agency workers hired to replace them arrived at the Kent port.

A lorry driver trying to enter the port began shouting and beeping at those in the road, before being told "We're not moving". Another driver, Richard Gamby, said: "I understand what they're doing but I want to get home - I've been up since four."

By Thursday evening, crews had left their ships, their futures unknown.

P&O and Dubai’s ruling sheikh, had, for now at least, got their way. Its ships won’t be running “over the next few days”.