Steam Packet denies it's 'doing a P&O' 

Union claims its members have been threatened with 'fire and rehire'

The Steam Packet has denied suggestions that ‘it is doing a P&O’ saying any comparisons are ‘misleading’.

The company is engaged in dispute with a maritime union over proposed changes to working conditions for staff.

Nautilus claims its members have been threatened with ‘fire and rehire’ if they do not agree to new live onboard requirements which it says could mean a loss of 83 days a year ashore.  

It’s also disputed the ‘generous package of measures’ the Steam Packet says it’s offering saying the company is being ‘at best disingenuous and at worst misleading’.

Today (29 September) the Steam Packet has set out the 'compensation package' it's offering in exchange for acceptance of amended terms and conditions which includes:

• increased staffing levels to ‘spread the workload’
• the option of a one week on/one week off or two weeks on/two weeks off rota
• an extra six days of annual leave
• a five percent live onboard bonus in the first year.

It says one union, which represents 70 per cent of sea going staff, has accepted these amended terms and conditions.

Nautilus, however, says the measures equate to the equivalent of £6.85 extra per day (based on average salary) for each day staff live onboard which will decrease every year.

It adds the company also offered ‘a loss of 76 days per year with family rather than 83’ adding: "This is an insult and far from a generous package".

The ongoing dispute has seen some people draw comparisons with P&O which sacked 800 workers without notice last year without negotiating with unions.

This was with a view to replacing staff with cheaper agency labour.

The Steam Packet says it’s been negotiating with the unions for more than two years and has, it claims, made a ‘number of concessions and followed due process throughout’.

It says it informed Nautilus of its intention to enter a 30-day consultation period so its members can make a final decision on whether to accept the changes to terms and conditions.

The company adds it does not want to put any of its staff in this position but ‘cannot ignore the strong business case for making changes that will benefit the whole of the Island and its visitors’.

In a statement the Steam Packet adds: “Any comparison with the action taken by P&O Ferries is completely misleading.

“The company has engaged honestly and openly with the unions and tried to reach an amicable agreement.

"It has no intention of reducing pay, employing cheaper agency labour or changing any of the other terms and conditions."

The company says it wants to return to the model it used for almost 170 years, prior to the acquisition of the Ben-my-Chree, adding it's an ‘industry-wide norm’.

This is the second response the Steam Packet has issued today (29 September).

Earlier it described the Manxman as a 'physical manifestation' of its duty to the public and a 'quantum leap forward' in terms of quality and service. 

In a statement issued earlier this week Nautilus said: "We stand ready to consider a genuine offer from Isle of Man Steam Packet Company but threatening our members with fire and rehire is not the basis for good faith negotiations."