CHEAP agency seafarers who were given the jobs of sacked P&O workers a year ago are living in tents near the ferry company’s ports, Yorkshire and Humber TUC conference heard.

Delegates heard that the workers are pitching up in the ports because they cannot afford to go home between their 17-week shifts at sea.

RMT delegate and seafarer Gaz Jackson said the company had been allowed to get away with the 782 unlawful sackings, and that the government had in effect colluded with the unlawful action of P&O by taking no action against the company.

He recalled how on the day of the sackings he had raised the gangway on P&O’s ferry in Hull to prevent security guards getting onto the ship to eject the sacked crew.

“I became a pirate for a day,” he said.

But he said today, one year later, most of the 782 sacked mariners had never gone back to sea. He called for support for the continuing campaign for the P&O seafarers.

“We cannot let the Tories keep getting away with it,” he said. “What is to say this will not happen again?

“I wish I could say we have helped the P&O seafarers. We have not. But we are running a campaign to get this issue back into the spotlight. Our line is ‘never forgive, never forget’.”

Aslef delegate San Senick said: “To this day nobody has been held accountable for what happened, for breaking the law. 

“It is imperative that we join forces against this arbitrary behaviour. It could be us next time.”
 
The conference backed the call unanimously.