P&O Cruises and Cunard hit back over ‘fire and rehire’ accusations

Carnival UK, the British subsidiary of the world’s biggest cruise firm, has hit back at accusations that it plans to “fire and rehire” more than 900 staff in a bid to cut costs.

The company’s brands include Cunard and P&O Cruises, and vessels such as Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2 and Iona.

P&O Cruises is an entirely separate entity from P&O Ferries, which sacked 800 crew in 2022 and replaced them with workers from overseas on lower pay.

Nautilus International, the union which represents “maritime professionals” based in the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland, has been in negotiation with Carnival UK for the past 10 days. It said in a statement that on the evening of 22 November, the union was notified of an “HR1”. This is an official Insolvency Service form “for employers who need to notify the government of potential redundancies”.

The service says: “You are required by law to notify us of a proposal to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less.”

Nautilus International said Carnival had included the statement: “Dismissal and re-engagement may be considered if agreement cannot be reached on new terms.”

But the cruise firm hit back. A spokesperson said: “You may have seen factually inaccurate and misleading media reports today which are causing us significant reputational harm. As such we are consulting with external lawyers and will take the strongest possible action.

“We are categorically not making any redundancies and we will not dismiss and re-engage staff. In fact we have significantly increased our headcount across our fleet.

“This is an annual pay review process with our maritime officers onboard our ships which will ensure alignment. This will empower our staff, deliver the right teams across our fleet and attract and retain talent to work on our ships.”

The TUC posted on X: “Remember how after the P&O scandal last year the Conservatives promised to clamp down on rogue bosses? Well...they didn’t. And now it’s happening again.

“Time to outlaw fire and rehire.”

The message was reposted by Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary.

Later, the two organisations – Nautilus International and Carnival UK – issued a joint statement. It read: “Both parties are committed to engaging in meaningful consultation in finding a way forward following the start of consultation on proposed contractual changes for 919 Maritime Professionals.

“Carnival UK has reassured Nautilus International of there being no intent to undertake steps towards dismissal and re-engagement and has rescinded the HR1 form submitted to the insolvency service, whilst providing an update the relevant Bermudan authorities.

 “Both Nautilus International and Carnival UK are working cooperatively towards a negotiated settlement in the interest of all parties.”