Employees are counting the days. The P&O company has been shut down since March 17, when 800 British sailors were brutally dismissed. For nearly five weeks, the company’s ships have no longer been providing cross-Channel traffic. The crews were replaced by personnel of foreign origin.

“We can’t hold on, it’s not possible”

Worry, uncertainty and disgust are the watchwords of employees who denounce an economic disaster but also a social one, “the more time passes, the more worrying it is. What company could keep shutting down like this for months?“, wonders Christine *, employed in the offices of the company in Calais.

“We have no traffic at all, we have nothing. _All the teams rotate normally every day, we are 250 employees and we are paid as before_. Financially, we can’t hold on, it’s not possible“, indicates another disappointed employee. For five weeks, Delphine *, has therefore been coming to her workplace eight hours a day without any task to be carried out, “it’s obvious that we can be next after the sailors. That’s why we’re afraid. We won’t fall through the cracks this time.”

A “degraded” image

Freight traffic and customers must therefore be redirected to the two remaining companies, Irish Ferries and DFDS, for more than a month. A situation that has been creating traffic jams for several weeks near the port terminal.

“I’m afraid our working tool has been broken, I’m afraid we’ll never find itworries Thorir-Orn Thorisson, CFDT delegate. We had almost 70% market share in the port. I don’t think we will even be able to recover 50%. Now I think we have a degraded image of us, that ofa low cost company.“

Lack of safety on board

Last week, several P&O ships were checked and failed safety tests. According to André Haffreingue, elected CGT, the new crew that succeeds the 800 British sailors is not able to meet the safety conditions on board“if the leaders had asked the opinion of any officer or sailor in relation to a total change of crew, the officer was or the sailor would have told them that it is madness, that it is contrary to safety rules.”

On the British side, the staff also mobilized in England at the same time.

*Names have been changed.