The recent treatment of employees by P&O Ferries is, from our perspective, nothing short of despicable. Their website champions ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, and purports to ‘inspire our people…’ inferring an ethos of ‘investing in people’.
Whilst they may have valid financial reasons to support their actions, how they have handled this leaves a lot to be desired. I am of the opinion that had a smaller SME acted in such a manner, it would not be tolerated, so why should it be tolerated when the company concerned is of such magnitude?
Corporate social responsibility seems to be on many companies’ radars at present; environmental impact, responsibility, ethics, salaries, treatment of employees, modern slavery and so forth. Forgive me though: Is this just another box to tick, to be seen as caring? Evidently so.
As a company, we have never needed to be told any of these. Treat people right, pay them well, do what you can do to be as environmentally conscious as you can, and follow every regulation you possibly can. Ital Logistics has always prided itself in fairness, honesty and openness. We may not have a specific policy in place, but we know what is right, and what is not, and can sleep at night.
To cut to the chase, Ital Logistics has decided not to use the services of P&O Ferries directly until further notice. At the same time we are requesting that our international hauliers, whose traction we utilise, refrain from using the services of P&O Ferries unless borne out of absolute necessity.
By taking this stance, we appreciate that there may be some movements that could be difficult to undertake, such as freight-ship only dangerous goods movements, at least until we find workable alternatives. We are confident that you, our customers, suppliers and partners will be supportive of our initiative, and that despite this boycott, we will continue to provide our services with honesty and integrity, and always to the very best of our abilities.
Phil Denton, Managing Director