P&O broke UK law, not EU directive

 Much as I would like to nail another indictment to the door of the Brexit campaign, it has to be said that UK membership of the EU would not have protected the victims of P&O's mass sackings. The meme which is circulating on social media is misguided. If French and Irish P&O employees were protected, it was by French and Irish law, not by EU-directed legislation. No doubt the Commission would like a more consistent approach across the Union, but as in most areas of the law, member nations retain individual competence in employment regulation. 

In any case, the maritime employment régime is not simple. Baroness Vere (shipping minister) in the House of Lords' consideration of the P&O actions stated: 

"The world of employment law on international routes is hugely complicated. In many circumstances, the jurisdiction of the flag state applies on board vessels on international routes. Occasionally, that can also be a coastal state or the state under which the contract of employment was signed. We believe that was Jersey for some of these workers, but there is an awful lot of information to be found out about the circumstances surrounding the contracts and employment of these individuals. We are working very closely with officials in the department to press P&O Ferries and its owner, DP World, for the information we need to fully get to grips with some of the issues we want to proceed with." (my emphasis) 

On Brexit, P&O Ferries re-registered its vessels under the flag of Cyprus* (an EU member state), though this was almost certainly for economic reasons unconnected with employment. 

No, the blame lies with P&O Ferries themselves and with the UK government for its reluctance to bring the nation's maritime law into line with domestic employment law. This is something which Transport minister Grant Shapps has now promised to expedite, but we now know that he was given notice last November of P&O's intentions. He could have taken action then.

* Cyprus vied with the UK as the EU state most welcoming of foreign money with few questions asked. She now stands alone, though Estonia is not totally clean.