Tempers flared in Dover as Conservative local MP Natalie Elphicke joined a large crowd outside the The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers headquarters at Maritime House on Snargate Street.
Ms Elphicke was heckled by Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, while she was speaking to a councillor.
The Archbishop of Canterbury also waded into the row, describing the sackings as a “sin” and “cynically timed for a moment when the world’s attention was on Ukraine.”
Rival ferry operators are now ramping up sailings from UK ports. In Dover, Danish company DFDS said it would put an extra two services-a-day over the weekend. It is understood that Irish Ferries is exploring whether to send an extra vessel to the busy south coast port.
P&O did not offer any apology and defended its decision to make staff redundant without any warning.
A spokesman said: “We took this difficult decision as a last resort and only after full consideration of all other options but, ultimately, we concluded that the business wouldn’t survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies.”
P&O’s parent company DP World, which is owned by the government of Dubai, last week announced record financial results and proposed paying its state shareholder a $275m dividend.
A spokesman for P&O said “Reaching agreement on the way forward would be impossible and against this background, that the process itself would be highly disruptive, not just for the business but for UK trade and tourism.
“We have offered enhanced severance terms to those affected to properly and promptly compensate them for the lack of warning and consultation.”
The ferry company, whose name can be traced back to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company that was founded in 1837 also said: “The changes we’ve made bring us into line with standard industry practice.”
P&O’s assertion was challenged by one senior industry source. They said: “I would say that is slightly disingenuous.
“[It has brought it into line] with the international model of crewing. But not the one that is standard for short straits.”
