The voted man “The worst chief in the world” gave his resignation from the company he was running

A wave of unexpected redundancies decided by Peter Hebblethwaite, director of a British passenger transport company, has triggered a national scandal in the UK. He has come to explain in the London Parliament, which led to the change of labor law, reports to Libre.

Peter Hebblethwaite, who has held the position of general director of the Pasagers Passenger Company P&O Ferries, announced his departure from the company “for personal reasons” and to “dedicate more time”, according to information broadcast by Sky News and BBC.

Although he is not as well known as other controversial chiefs of some big companies, his name is related to the biggest work scandal that the UK has known in recent years.

In November 2022, during the World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), he was voted by participants as “the worst chief in the world”, in a poll in which he went before Jeff Bezos and Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair airline.

“His shame has reached international quotas now that the worst chief in the world has been voted. The general directors in the transport industry have been warned-if you fail to respect the rights of workers and offer them decent jobs, safe working conditions, respect and dignity, the global union move will be there,”

The scandal that brought the title of “the worst boss in the world”

In March 2022, Hebblethwaite fired almost 800 sailors who operated the company's ferries to replace them with temporary workers from abroad, paid under the UK legal minimum wage.

The dismissed employees have accused the fact of being replaced with less qualified staff, and the scandal was exacerbated by the fact that the people expelled were not even announced in person. They were informed by this by a pre-recorded video broadcast on the zoom.

The mass dismissal decision, considered illegal for violating the consultation and notification rules in the UK, has triggered a political and social storm that Hebblethwaite was called to explain in the London Parliament.

During the 2022 hearing, he openly acknowledged that he had violated the law, saying at the same time “would do it again” if needed. The statement only feed the anger of the unions and the indignation of public opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00_1-0tlpdg

Controversies have made the British government adopt a new legislation to better regulate “dismissal and re -employment” practices and to strengthen the protection of maritime workers. The French government, which took note of this case, decided to improve its own legislation.

Said he “thought well” before accepting a giant first

The hostility towards it has increased even after the information on its salary became public, its remuneration making a strong contrast to that of ordinary employees.

In a separate hearing that took place last year, Hebblethwaite said in front of a parliamentary commission that his salary was 325,000 pounds and that in 2023, in the year after mass redundancies, he received a premium of 183,000 pounds.

During the hearing, he was asked if he is a “pirate” that seems to “blindly plunder the staff”.

“I thought well before I accept such a remuneration, but in the end I decided to accept it,” he said in front of the deputies, adding: “I admit that it is not a decision that everyone would have made.”

P&O Ferries transports 4.5 million passengers on routes between the UK and continental European ports, including Calais and Rotterdam every year. It also operates a route between Northern Ireland and Scotland and is an important freight carrier.

The losses of the company grew vertiginos during the pandemic, with DP World-its only shareholder-supporting it through loans of hundreds of millions of pounds.