Following a complaint by a number of trade unions and labour organisations about the illegal sacking of 800 seafarers by P&O Ferries in March 2022, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has now ruled that the UK government needs to improve protections for workers.
The organisations – the TUC, Nautilus, RMT and international union bodies the ETF, ITF and ITUC – referred the scandal to the UN workers’ rights watchdog, arguing that the current legislation in the UK does not adequately protect against acts of anti-union discrimination or the violation of collective bargaining rights.
The ILO has now called on the UK government to increase sanctions on companies like P&O that ignore the law and ensure that workers can get their jobs back. In particular, it has recommended that the government should:
- Ensure “mutual respect for the commitment undertaken in collective agreements”;
- Engage with the social partners to overcome challenges regarding the legislative prohibition on sympathy strikes, in conformity with freedom of association; and
- Ensure an adequate and efficient system of protection against acts of anti-union discrimination. This should include “sufficiently dissuasive sanctions and prompt means of redress”, in particular reinstatement.
It has also told the government that it should now provide full and detailed information about how it aims to implement these recommendations to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
With regard to the ruling, the unions commented that without a proper sanction’s regime, rogue employers like P&O Ferries will continue to get away with treating staff like disposable labour. As they point out, there is nothing to stop another P&O scandal from happening again under current UK law.
The TUC points out that this is the second time in months that the ILO has reprimanded the UK government. In the summer, it slammed the UK’s anti-union drive and called on ministers to bring UK union laws into line with international law.
The TUC has also recently reported the Conservative government to the ILO’s committee of experts over the imposition of the draconian Strikes Act.
To read the ruling in full, click here.