P&O SINKS TO NEW LOW

FERRY SCANDAL EXCLUSIVE. Now they try to cut wages of cheap staff who replaced sacked crews.

- STEPHEN HAYWARD

SO FERRY RUTHLESS. P&O CREW HIRED ON THE CHEAP ARE OFFERED PAY CUT

P&O Ferries was accused of plumbing new depths yesterday after trying to CUT the wages of its new low-paid foreign crew.

Overseas agency workers hired to replace 786 staff illegally sacked by Zoom call claimed they were asked to sign new contracts on lower pay.

If they did not agree they faced being out of work, it is claimed.

One agency worker emailed the RMT union from the Spirit of Britain ferry in Dover and declared: “We are desperate."

In one example, workers say chefs paid £2,336 a month on temporary contracts were asked to sign new deals giving them £195 a month less.

The ferry, now cleared to resume the Dover to Calais route, has a crew of 70.

But it is not known if all faced a cut, or if staff on seven other ferries were targeted too.

Some crew earn just £748 a month for a 40-hour week - barely £4.30 an hour.