Cruise ship company Carnival UK will work with officers union Nautilus International on pay after it was accused of threatening to “fire and re-hire” 919 staff on cheaper wages.
A joint statement from the two sides on Friday revealed that talks had taken place to resolve the dispute.
The union had claimed the owner of P&O Cruises and Cunard had notified authorities in the UK and Bermuda of its intention to change employment terms and conditions across 10 vessels.
The statement said: “Carnival UK have reassured Nautilus International of there being no intent to undertake steps towards dismissal and re-engagement and have rescinded the HR1 form submitted to the insolvency service, whilst providing an update to the relevant Bermudan authorities.”
Both sides are now working cooperatively towards a negotiated settlement in the interest of all parties, it added.
Nautilus said that on Wednesday evening it had received a copy of the HR1 form which stated: “Dismissal and re-engagement may be considered if agreement cannot be reached on new terms.”
Following urgent discussions, the shipping company committed to withdrawing this threat.
Carnival has also explained its intention from the outset was that there would be no dismissal and re-engagement or redundancies, according to the union.
The company’s proposals could have led to some workers losing up to 20% of their annual take-home pay as part of plans to cut working rotations, Nautilus had claimed.
The statutory notification was reportedly sent to the UK insolvency service by Fleet Management Services (Carnival UK) on 15 November, and the union claims it was only notified on the evening of 22 November.
‘Headcount increased’
Nautilus had said the move suggested that the employer “never had any intention of meaningful negotiation”.
Carnival UK had earlier told the BBC it was “categorically not making any redundancies, and we will not dismiss and re-engage staff. We have significantly increased our headcount across our fleet”.
It added: “This is an annual pay review process with our maritime officers on board 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 incident brought to mind the scandal surrounding DP World-owned P&O Ferries sacking 800 workers in 2021, replacing them with cheaper agency staff.
