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| Brittany Ferries services halted 'until further notice' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Brittany Ferries crossings from Portsmouth and Plymouth to France have been "cancelled until further notice" following two days of wildcat strikes. | |
| Sailings are suspended because of industrial action by some French crew members. | |
| Talks are continuing in the French port of Roscoff between unions and Brittany Ferries in a bid to end the dispute. | Talks are continuing in the French port of Roscoff between unions and Brittany Ferries in a bid to end the dispute. |
| The company is trying to reduce costs following three years of losses. Passengers are being diverted to Dover. | The company is trying to reduce costs following three years of losses. Passengers are being diverted to Dover. |
| The action was triggered by some workers upset at proposed changes to working terms and conditions put forward by management. | The action was triggered by some workers upset at proposed changes to working terms and conditions put forward by management. |
| Brittany Ferries communications director Stephen Tuckwell apologised to passengers caught up in the last-minute disruption. | |
| He said: "All sailings are cancelled until further notice because we cannot tolerate any short notice strikes by the crew which result in intolerable inconvenience for our passengers. | |
| "Talks are ongoing and we hope to resolve the dispute early next week." | |
| Maria Williams, from Farnborough, turned up at Portsmouth on Friday morning unaware her sailing to Caen had been cancelled. | Maria Williams, from Farnborough, turned up at Portsmouth on Friday morning unaware her sailing to Caen had been cancelled. |
| She said: "I'm not very happy, really, especially as we set off at 4am to get here. | She said: "I'm not very happy, really, especially as we set off at 4am to get here. |
| "They could've rung us before we left to save us a journey." | |
| 'Particularly frustrating' | |
| Barbara Robinson was trying to get back to her home in France from Plymouth with her husband, Brian. | Barbara Robinson was trying to get back to her home in France from Plymouth with her husband, Brian. |
| She told BBC Radio Devon she was "disappointed" with the industrial action. | She told BBC Radio Devon she was "disappointed" with the industrial action. |
| She said: "We're tired. You're expecting to get on the ferry and it all goes smoothly, but we're still here and we don't know for how long." | She said: "We're tired. You're expecting to get on the ferry and it all goes smoothly, but we're still here and we don't know for how long." |
| Mr Tuckwell said: "This is a wildcat strike which has given us very little time to contact people in advance about the disruption. | |
| "It's particularly frustrating as an agreement was reached last week in Roscoff following a previous wildcat strike and we thought that was the end of it. | "It's particularly frustrating as an agreement was reached last week in Roscoff following a previous wildcat strike and we thought that was the end of it. |
| "The dispute centres on allowances that were given to staff in the good times, but now that we're facing a third year of losses, we need to safeguard the business and the interests of our crew." | "The dispute centres on allowances that were given to staff in the good times, but now that we're facing a third year of losses, we need to safeguard the business and the interests of our crew." |
| Mr Tuckwell advised passengers due to travel with Brittany Ferries in the next few days to travel to Dover where special arrangements are in place. | Mr Tuckwell advised passengers due to travel with Brittany Ferries in the next few days to travel to Dover where special arrangements are in place. |