UK ferry operator says it acted lawfully in mass firings

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The Dubai government-owned ferry operator at the center of a bitter labor dispute in Britain says it didn’t break the law when it fired 786 crew members without advance notice because they all worked on ships registered outside the U.K. P&O Ferries also acknowledged that the way the dismissals were carried out caused distress for workers and said it had offered “generous compensation” to those involved.  But the company also said it couldn’t have survived without “fundamentally changed crewing arrangements” and that it took the action to save 2,200 other jobs. The dismissed seafarers are being replaced by cheaper workers employed by a third-party crew provider.