P&O Ferries boss reveals new crew paid just £5.50 an hour as he admits law was broken

P&O Ferries chief executive was urged to quit by MPs after the firm admitted breaking employment law when it sacked 800 seafarers without notice. Peter Hebblethwaite acknowledged there is “absolutely no doubt” the ferry operator was required to consult with trade unions prior to dismissing the workers.

Last week the firm replaced its crews with cheaper agency workers. According to Mr Hebblethwaite, the new crews are being paid below the UK’s minimum wage, except when working domestic routes, but he insisted this is allowed under international maritime rules.

The chief executive also claimed that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was aware of the intention to cut jobs in November last year, although the Department for Transport (DfT) strongly denied this.

READ MORE: P&O Ferries: 'We cannot allow this to stand' says MP Jonathan Reynolds

Mr Hebblethwaite explained the decision not to consult with trade unions to a joint session of the Commons’ transport and business select committees. He said: “We assessed that given the fundamental nature of change, no union could accept it and therefore we chose not to consult because a consultation process would have been a sham.

“We didn’t want to put anybody through that. We are compensating people in full and up-front for that decision.”

Questioned on whether he was concerned he had breached his legal obligations as a company director, Mr Hebblethwaite said: “I completely throw our hands up, my hands up, that we did choose not to consult. We did not believe there was any other way to do this.”

Asked if he would make the same decision again with the benefit of hindsight, Mr Hebblethwaite replied: “We weren’t viable before, and I know that if we hadn’t made radical changes the