The decision to award a significant public contract to the owner of P&O Ferries has sparked outrage, as the company laid off 800 employees without notice last year.
As part of Rishi Sunak’s freeports proposal, DP World has been approved to co-run the Thames Freeport in Essex.
According to the Trades Union Congress, it was an “appalling decision” that allows other employers to “act with impunity.”
The government stated that the new freeport would “contribute to economic growth.”
P&O Ferries replaced hundreds of seafarers with foreign agency workers paid below the minimum pay in March 2022.
The action prompted outrage and demands for the resignation of P&O’s CEO Peter Hebblethwaite.
The government at the time deemed the employees’ treatment “completely unacceptable.”
A week later, Mr. Hebblethwaite acknowledged to the members of parliament that the decision had violated employment law.
Freeports seek to generate economic activity, such as commerce, investment, and employment, near seaports and airports.
Imported goods into freeports are exempt from taxes, known as tariffs, normally paid to the government.
England has already established eight freeports, with more in the works.
The government verified that a new freeport for the Thames Estuary region had recently been approved and would be operated by DP World, Ford, and Forth Ports in partnership.
After the P&O firings, Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, stated that ministers should have “stripped the company of all its public contracts and severed commercial ties.”
“However, the government has instead decided to award DP World with another lucrative contract.” This gives other unscrupulous employers permission to act with impunity.”
The new freeport, according to a government spokesperson, “will help the economy grow and level up by attracting high-quality jobs and much-needed investment.”
This approval will result in the freeport receiving up to £25 million from the government and potentially hundreds of millions in locally retained business rates.
The spokesperson said the money will “benefit the entire region” and go to freeport municipal governments.
