Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to make a brief statement to the Chamber to update members on the latest developments arising from the reprehensible actions of P&O last week.
I recognise the announcement last week will cut across a number of Departments here; indeed, a cross departmental group of officials has already convened to make sure we join up on our respective responses. I certainly don’t want to cut across the work of Ministerial Colleagues, so the purpose of my statement today, is primarily, to focus on the employment law aspects of what has taken place.
At the outset let me be clear; neither I, as a constituency representative in East Antrim or as Minister of the Economy, nor my officials in the Department, were afforded the courtesy of advanced notice of the P&O announcement.
I regard their actions as disgraceful. P&O has literally ripped up the employment rule book, and in the process, simply discarded 800 of their loyal and most diligent workforce.
Even now, I can scarcely believe how callously they behaved. I understand that there could be up to 50 staff from Northern Ireland directly impacted by this announcement. Many of us in East Antrim know some of the workforce. The stories I heard of staff being escorted off ships, by men in balaclavas, carrying handcuffs, was as sinister as it was outrageous.
Deploying such a tactic here, in Northern Ireland, to an unsuspecting workforce is so ill judged and shocking, our condemnation alone...
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