Manning Review gets under way at P&O Ferries

A Manning Review is underway for all officers employed by P&O Crewing Services and P&O Irish Sea in Jersey to assess market rates in key officer roles.

The review is being held as part of the 2019 pay and conditions settlement recommended by Nautilus, to determine whether members salary and roles reflected the UK industry pay scales.

The first Manning Review meeting between the company, and Nautilus national ferry officer organiser and liaison officers for Short sea, North Sea, and Irish Sea took place on Wednesday, 22 May 2019 in Dover.

Nautilus national ferry organiser Micky Smyth told members in a bulletin that both the Union and the company recognise that this review will be key in the recruitment and retention of maritime professionals.

The review would explore job descriptions, spheres of responsibilities of officer roles in all departments, and scrutinise the market rates applicable for Nautilus members in the UK market.

'We both acknowledge that this will entail a major amount of work and effort on both sides and this will commence as soon as possible', commented Mr Smyth. 'I would ask members to be patient as we need to ensure that the salary scales are appropriate for the responsibilities attached to the specific rank.'

The Manning Review is being carried out separately to the sale of the European Endeavour, where 20 Union members were affected. The ferry was sold to Finnish shipping company Eckero Line. The company held discussions with Nautilus and agreed that there would be no redundancies, and Nautilus were updated at the meeting by the company that the officers had been consulted on their preferences and would be redeployed throughout the fleet.

Once a date for the next meeting has been agreed, members will be updated via a further bulletin.