UK’s Johnson says ferry firm’s mass firings likely broke law

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government says a Dubai government-owned ferry operator at the center of a bitter U.K. labor dispute likely broke the law when it fired 786 crew members without notice to replace them with cheaper contract staff. Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “callous” behavior of P&O Ferries and said the company appeared to have broken British labor laws. He said the company faced “fines running into millions of pounds” if found guilty. P&O Ferries has acknowledged that the way the dismissals were carried out caused distress. But the company said it couldn’t have survived without “fundamentally changed crewing arrangements.” The dismissed seafarers are being replaced by cheaper workers employed by a third-party crew provider.