P&O Ferries has admitted to paying workers just £4.87 per hour as its CEO pocketed more than £500,000 last year.
Peter Hebblethwaite, who earned half-a-million quid including bonuses, told MPs he could not live on the measley £4.87 per hour wage given to some of P&O Ferries crewmembers.
Addressing MPs during a hearing over workers' rights and protection, Hebblethwaite faced more questions over P&O's decision to axe hundreds of workers without notice and replace them with agency staff.
A total of 786 P&O Ferries workers were sacked, leaving its boss facing accusations of becoming a “modern-day pirate”.
P&O Ferries admits to paying workers just £4.87 per hour after mass lay offs scandal
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Hebblethwaite reiterated he was deeply sorry for the redundancies and claimed: "We would not make that decision again".
He defended the decision to pay agency workers as little as £4.87 per hour as it was in excess of the minimum basic wage set out by international law.
Hebblethwaite said: "We are paying considerably ahead of the international standard."
Labour MP Liam Byrne, chair of the Business & Trade Committee, accused Hebblethwaite of "robbing your staff blind".
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Protestors gather outside the Port of Hull to demonstrate against P&O Ferries on March 18, 2022
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Despite the UK’s minimum wage rising to £11.44 an hour in April, the average P&O workers make just £5.20 an hour.
Hebblethwaite said: "We are paying considerably ahead of the international minimum standard.
"We believe that it is right that as an international business operating in international waters, we should be governed by international law."
"In British waters when the law changes we’ll pay national minimum wage. We already pay national minimum wage on domestic routes," Hebblethwaite added.
The P&O ferry 'Spirit of Britain' (L) passes the 'Pride of Canterbury' as it sails back into the Port of Dover after undergoing sea trials
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"It’s a minimum wage for UK workers, we recruit from an international field and operate in international waters."
Labour MP Andy McDonald also put pressure on Hebblethwaite.
He said: "It just appears to this committee that you’re getting away with what amounts to modern day slavery."
Hebblethwaite responded by "categorically" resisting the claim.