SACKED P&O workers marched in the Port of Hull in Yorkshire today and said that their anger over the injustice was still strong.

The mariners’ union RMT is mounting nationwide protests against the ferry company which unlawfully sacked 800 workers without notice and replaced them with cheap labour from overseas.

RMT has called for the trade union movement to support its campaign as the government has again failed to act to protect workers from increasingly rapacious employers.

RMT Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regional organiser Gaz Jackson was at today’s protest in Hull at which sacked workers rallied and marched on the port’s ferry terminal.

“The members are still angry,” he told the Morning Star.

“This has been a spark among a lot of people across the trade union movement to start a fightback against the government.

“The government has had chances to change legislation but they have not done it.

“We were in the House of Commons gallery when (Transport Secretary) Grant Shapps said that P&O should change the names of their ships. We just gasped.

“It is quite clear what the employers will do as a result. They are going to roll out the attacks. 

“As long as the government does nothing, the employers will just do it. It won’t stop at P&O.”

He attacked P&O’s gagging orders of sacked workers who were told to sign or face losing thousands of pounds in redundancy pay.

“Gagging is unforgivable,” he said. “It is a disgrace. There is not an ounce of decency from P&O.

“The redundancy money will not last for ever, maybe to the end of the year.

“A lot of P&O workers have been at sea for many years. What are they going to do? P&O are just throwing them on the scrap heap.”

He said the workers saw that public support was not flagging.

“We blocked a major arterial road right into Hull,” Mr Jackson said.

“Sometimes you used to get people shouting ‘get back to work’ but they were hooting in support. They’ve been with us from day one and are still with us.”

on Wednesday the Port of Liverpool will be targeted for protests, assembling at 4pm at Sandy Road, Seaforth.

On Friday Loch Ryan Port at Cairnryan in Scotland will be targeted at noon.