By means of Faarea MasudBusiness reporter23 November 2023Updated 13 mins agoA main cruise send corporate is being accused of making plans to fireplace greater than 900 personnel individuals if they don’t settle for new phrases and prerequisites.Carnival UK, proprietor of P&O Cruises and Cunard, notified government of the “fire-and-rehire” plan at some point after starting talks with union individuals.The Nautilus union mentioned it confirmed the cruise company had “no actual aim to interact” in significant negotiations.Carnival UK mentioned it used to be “categorically now not making any redundancies”.The personnel who may well be affected come with 919 group running throughout 10 vessels, together with the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary 2.Closing 12 months a separate corporate, P&O Ferries, was embroiled in a dispute over the sacking of 800 of its employees through its proprietor DP International. The company sacked personnel with out understand, changing them with overseas company employees who had been paid lower than the United Kingdom minimal salary.Later, the company’s boss admitted the sackings had been unlawful.Below UK regulation, employers making plans to make 20 or extra personnel redundant inside any 90-day duration, should first seek the advice of personnel and get in touch with industry union representatives.Within the provide case, Nautilus, which represents masses of the ones probably affected, is accusing Carnival UK, of coming into into negotiations over subsequent 12 months’s pay and prerequisites with out being open about their fall-back place – that they had been taking into consideration a plan to push aside the employees if talks failed.It’s not recently unlawful to fireplace after which rehire personnel, so long as the proper procedures are adopted. Nautilus mentioned Carnival had notified the government that it used to be taking into consideration redundancies, through filing what’s referred to as a Shape HR1, only a day after beginning talks with the union over lowering employees’ hours and pay.The union handiest discovered about that notification every week later.The HR1 comprises the remark: “Dismissal and re-engagement could also be regarded as if settlement can’t be reached on new phrases.”Nautilus mentioned the transfer advised that Carnival “by no means had any aim of ‘significant negotiation'”.Carnival UK mentioned: “We’re categorically now not making any redundancies and we can now not push aside and re-engage personnel. In truth now we have considerably larger our headcount throughout our fleet.”It added: “That is an annual pay evaluate procedure with our maritime officials onboard our ships which can be certain alignment. This may increasingly empower our personnel, ship the appropriate groups throughout our fleet and draw in and retain ability to paintings on our ships.”The union mentioned the cruise corporate successfully sought after to “put in force a lower in 20% in their running days”, which amounted to a drop from 243 days labored in step with 12 months, to 200 days, and a drop in source of revenue.It mentioned adjustments had been being enforced and had been “now not negotiable”, leaving individuals dissatisfied, particularly because it gave the impression that the corporate had been “casting off flexibility” in the case of when the paintings may well be accomplished.Nautilus has written to the corporate calling for it to withdraw the specter of “fire-and-rehire”, and have interaction in significant negotiations.Shadow shipping secretary Louise Haigh mentioned historical past used to be “repeating itself”.”The lives of masses extra seafarers are as soon as once more being upended through dangerous bosses who know they may be able to break out with it,” she mentioned, including ministers have unnoticed “caution after caution” that this may occur once more with out adjustments in employment regulation.Nautilus’s senior nationwide organiser Garry Elliot referred to as at the govt to be informed courses from final 12 months’s P&O Ferries scandal and “outlaw the coercive apply of fire-and-rehire”. He added: “Employers can’t be allowed to regard their workers with contempt and pressure thru basic adjustments to phrases and prerequisites through taking part in with their workers’ livelihoods.”However Paul Nowak, normal secretary of the union umbrella frame, the TUC, mentioned ministers had failed to forestall employees from “being handled like disposable labour”.The federal government had reneged on a pledge to introduce a invoice strengthening employees’ rights he mentioned. The BBC has contacted the federal government for remark.
