- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
UK seeks Europe-wide maritime minimum wage after P&O debacle
The UK government said Wednesday it wants a minimum European wage for maritime workers, after P&O Ferries sacked almost 800 seafarers to replace them with cheaper agency workers.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told parliament that collaboration was needed as the government looks to manage the fallout from P&O's actions, given maritime law is largely governed by international rules, obligations and treaties.
"I've already contacted my counterparts in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany to discuss how maritime workers on direct routes between our countries should receive a minimum wage," he said.
"I'm delighted to say the response has already been very, very positive, particularly with my French counterpart," Shapps added, describing the proposed scheme as "minimum wage corridors between our nations".
His comments came as almost 200 trade unions representing 10,000 transport workers jointly wrote to Dubai-based DP World to protest at the unlawful sacking of crew at its UK unit P&O Ferries.
The open letter, delivered to DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem on Tuesday, comes after the firm admitted it had deliberately chosen to ignore its legal obligations to save costs after being hit by pandemic fallout.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has attacked P&O's move as "callous", and vowed that his government would take the company to court over the matter.
The union letter called for the immediate reinstatement of workers who were sacked via Zoom on March 17 and replaced by cheaper agency staff in a move that sparked angry protests across P&O facilities.
"The manner in which this has been done appears to be in clear violation of UK labour legislation and international labour standards, a fundamental breach of collective bargaining and an attack on workers' rights," it said.
The letter went on to say that "around the world transport workers and our allies in civil society expect and demand better.
"Multinational corporations like yours can and should treat workers with dignity and respect their rights under the law."
- Meeting urged -
The letter urged DP World to "urgently" convene a meeting with unions and the British government to "rectify" the situation.
And it called for the company to guarantee that workers would not face similar treatment at any other DP World subsidiary.
"DP World's much-vaunted sustainability statements are meaningless if you allow your subsidiary company to act illegally and directly undermine those very rights in the UK," it added.
Union signatories included the International Transport Workers' Federation, the European Transport Workers' Federation, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and Nautilus International.
The letter was published after P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite last week admitted to British lawmakers that the company had chosen to break UK employment law.
Shapps has called on Hebblethwaite to resign and for the company to rehire the workers.
However, the P&O chief has insisted that the company will not reverse its decision.
Shapps has also ordered inspections of all P&O vessels amid safety fears over the hiring of inexperienced agency staff.
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has meanwhile detained two P&O ships which failed inspections of emergency equipment, crew training and documentation.
The group's vessel, European Causeway, was held at Larne, north of Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday.
And another ship, Pride Of Kent, was detained at the port of Dover on the English southeast coast on Monday.
But P&O on Wednesday accused the MCA -- an arm's length agency of the Department for Transport -- of operating with "an unprecedented level of rigour" over its ships.
J.Horn--BTB