France: New ferry law now in force

The French government has signed a law that mandates ferry companies docking in France to provide pay and working conditions equivalent to minimum French standards for on-board employees, to prevent cases of non-European workers having to work 17 weeks without a day off.

Readers will recall the controversy in 2022 when P&O Ferries sacked all its existing workers and replaced them with low-cost, mostly non-EU staff. Proponents of the French legislation say they will now push for a similar EU-wide law.