It is a title which it would have done well. Responsible for the express dismissal of some 800 employees in March, the general manager of the ferry company P & O Peter Hebblethwaite was elected Monday “worst boss in the world” on the sidelines of the Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
After an online vote open to all, the boss of the British carrier won 39% of the 3,711 votes cast, ahead of his American counterpart from Amazon Jeff Bezos (25%) and the CEO of the Australian airline Qantas. Alan Joyce (20%), the confederation told AFP.
For Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, CEOs are “warned: if you don’t stand up for workers’ rights and guarantee them decent jobs, safe working conditions, respect and dignity, the international trade union movement will not fail to hold you accountable. »
Layoffs without union negotiations
After a ballot opened on October 19 and closed on Sunday, Peter Hebblethwaite was sanctioned by Internet users for having dismissed almost 800 sailors overnight and replacing them with workers paid below the British minimum wage.
In his defence, the P&O boss kept saying the business’ cost model was unsustainable and that it was losing £100m a year.
He had stunned a parliamentary commission by explaining that the leaders of P & O had knowingly broken the law, dispensing with union negotiations, which were nevertheless mandatory. Following these shocking dismissals in the UK, British authorities have launched both criminal and civil investigations.