BF crews - Walk out by Matelots when Company wants to cut pay and extend working week.
No warnings they just walked off the boat.
tinyurl.com/9y4xbp7
You've got to hand it to the French - Port Blockades, Motorway Blocks.......they can cause havoc at the drop of a hat!
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Doesn't seem totally unreasonable to me, when I read this
"Facing a £56 millilon deficit, the stricken company has sought to impose pay cuts and a 25 per cent increase in working hours, a move described as unacceptable by the unions"
It depends whether they mean a pay cut and working more hours for the money or a reduction of the hourly rate and working longer hours to finish up with the same cash in hand. Report is not clear
We get strikes too and in services more essential than moving holiday makers around. Think firemen, ambulance drivers and tanker drivers for a start.
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It depends whether they mean a pay cut and working more hours for the money or a reduction of the hourly rate and working longer hours to finish up with the same cash in hand. Report is not clear.
Nor is that. Isn't it just the same thing twice?
}8---)
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25% increase in work and less money? Thats working 6 days instead of 5 and less money?
Blimey, I would tell them to poke their ship up their bilge and walk out as well.
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Doesn't it depend where you start from? Maybe they are working 4 days and BF want them to work 5 (which would be a 25% increase!).
If they are on a decent wage, they might think that is better than BF pulling out of the business and leaving them jobless. Or do they expect them to carry on losing money if in fact they are? - not sure what a £56m deficit means.
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Sarcasm not intended and I am not an accountant but I am guessing that over a period of time, probably more than a year, their income is less than their operating costs by that sum of money. Might or might not include the value of their ferries, if they went into liquidation. Their fares are very high and I don't think they have much scope for raising them and maintaining traffic levels.
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Yes I'd infer that it's the profitability, which would include depreciation - in cash terms it might not be so bad.
But the term deficit is an odd choice if they just mean losses. It might mean an operating loss of $56m before interest and depreciation which would be worse.
What the matelots need to do is get into a proper discussion with the business to see 'which way the wind blows' - I imagine they will and the walkout is a 'shot across the bows' before they engage. But you never know with the French - they might literally 'burn their boats' tomorrow!
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Efforts to cut costs were certainly apparent in the poorer standard and higher cost of catering on the Cork-Roscoff route this summer compared to previous years.
The fares haven't come down accordingly, so I'm not sure I'll pay the BF premium again in 2013. Hardly a sustainable business model...
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The Western ferry routes are basically doomed unless they can substantially reduce the fares which I suspect is near impossible.
The short crossings and tunnel are far, far cheaper and whenever I am tempted to take one of the longer crossings the realisation that I would be paying a huge additional amount to avoid driving for a couple of hours in France soon changes my mind
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It's not a couple of hours, though, is it? We did one of each in June: out by Tunnel, night in Calais, then drive to Charente Maritime on the Saturday - took ten hours, plus more than three and a half hours on the English side. Came home on the St Malo - Portsmouth ferry: five hours' driving in France, only one toll, and only 90 min to home on the other side.
Plus - and it's a big plus - St Malo is delightful and Calais is, well, Calais. That's the route I'd choose for both crossings. That the UK-France crossing sells out months on advance tells you how it's valued.
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I will do anything to avoid setting foot on a blasted boat. Anything.
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I think the Portsmouth / Caen (or St Malo) link is not so much of a loss maker, so is probably safe. But Plymouth - Roscoff? Nah its got a limited market.
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>> I think the Portsmouth / Caen (or St Malo) link is not so much of
>> a loss maker, so is probably safe. But Plymouth - Roscoff? Nah its got a
>> limited market.
>>
Ive used the Plymouth / Roscoff route a few times and its always been busy. Not traveled with them for a couple of years, but the service has always been good, ships clean and tidy.
The market for that route is fairly large i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and to a lesser extent South Gloucestershire and some of Wiltshire. From Bristol I can get to Plymouth quicker than any other port
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>> The market for that route is fairly large i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and to a
>> lesser extent South Gloucestershire and some of Wiltshire. From Bristol I can get to Plymouth
>> quicker than any other port
Its not, really, its a small market with poor roads. Compare that with Portsmouth, two motorway type links, an hour away from the M25.
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"It's not a couple of hours, though, is it?"
It's 5 hours drive form Calais to St Malo. The Dover Calais ferry takes less than 2 hours - half that for the tunnel. The Portsmouth St Malo ferry takes 12 hours. Living on the Eastern side of the country I also get a longer drive this side of the Channel. Doesn't make much sense for me either in journey times or cost.
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Eastern Channel fares are lower now, by some way, then they were fifteen yeas ago. Even very close to peak, say going out the July Sunday after the schools finish and returning around 9-11 August, advance bookers get around £40 each way (DFDS).
However I do the maths and even if I need an extra hotel overnight a Western Crossing is going to cost far more.
I'm probably marginally nearer to Portsmouth than to Dover but both are in the 150-180 minute range.
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The Portsmouth St Malo ferry takes 12 hours.
Closer to nine. And you can spend most of that asleep, either way, which suits me fine.
But there's more to it than cost - for me anyway. It's meant to be a holiday, and the St Malo route is far more pleasant and relaxing - for us - than the long haul via Folkestone and Calais. I don't expect everyone to agree but the Friday night sailings from Portsmouth sell out before Christmas, so I think someone does.
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Driving through Dover and Calais is a deeply depressing start to a holiday.
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I know what you mean, I don't know which is worse. Although away from the port some parts of Calais are quite pleasant.
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"Driving through Dover and Calais is a deeply depressing start to a holiday."
Quite like the approach to Dover. Calais is a bit grim but no need to linger. Dunquerque is a better option if it suits journeywise.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Fri 14 Sep 12 at 14:03
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I doubt that route will close, as others have said the Portsmouth --> St Malo is really popular. I haven't been on it a while but I did for several years and you had to book at Christmas. It was worth it to many it had very good sailing times particularly for those coming down from the North.
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Portsmouth St Malo is only really popular in the summer months. Lacks the freight that underpins the Dover service. With its huge fuel costs there is little scope to reduce fares. I doubt the service will last for more than a year or two.
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Maybe I don't follow the ferries that closely as I don't use them anymore. Bit of a blow to a lot of people's holiday plans, alot used that route year in year out.
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>>. It was worth it to many it
>> had very good sailing times particularly for those coming down from the North.
Different ball game for those with a long drive this side. When I was a kid we lived in Leeds. French trips were nearly all via Southampton > Le Havre. Straight off at 07:00 and next stop Orleans.
Initially on Normandy Ferries 'Dragon' or 'Leopard'. Later with Townsend Thoresen on 'Viking Valiant' which seemd huge at the time but would be dwarfed by today's vessels.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 14 Sep 12 at 14:09
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>> Townsend Thoresen
*Shudder*. Two of their victims are buried close to my Dad in a shared grave.
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When I lived near Leeds we always did either st malo or cherbourg. Although sometimes we stayed overnight in Hampshire the night before.
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"Closer to nine. And you can spend most of that asleep, either way, which suits me fine. "
According to the BF timetable the 20.15 sailing from Portsmouth arrives at 08.15 which allowing for the 1 hour time difference I make 11 hours and 15 minutes. In order to sleep you have to a pay even more for a cabin.
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Never used BF.
Used to use Sea France when doing the Dover-Calais.
These days (7 years or more) i have been a regular IJmuiden-Newcastle DFDS user....shame they don't have a loyalty card;-)
used the yellow ones...trans manche??.... to Newhaven. they were OK.
I ramble on.........
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Relax, CG, I'm not trying to make you use it, or to argue it's the cheapest. The cabin is part of the point - 10.75h (according to the BF site, which does also say 2015-0830 or 11.25h) is long enough for a proper sleep - not so on the 7h Caen crossing - so who wouldn't want a cabin? We took one for the 9h daytime return too; wonderfully relaxing to have a whole day with literally nothing better to do.
Even from Warwickshire, where I used to live, Portsmouth is a much easier trip than Folkestone. You really have to be north or east of London for it not to be a significant obstacle on the way to the Tunnel.
Sometimes the better things in life cost a little more, that's all. I thought the Tunnel itself was excellent; I just didn't enjoy so much additional driving.
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BF Cherbourg/Poole on the good old Barfleur was really handy for us - but it's now history as far as real boats are concerned. I fear BF is in a downward spiral. It will be interesting to see if the French government can resist getting involved.
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Mike
Thought I read somewhere that Barfleur or another real boat was going back to Poole but possibly on a different route.
Barfleur is presently operating under an assumed name for DFDS on Dover-Calais but IIRC she's off lease next April.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 15 Sep 12 at 10:09
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I'd love to work a 48 hour week. I'd have so much more free time.
:-)
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Yeah yeah yeah wotevvuh !
:-)
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Never mind, you can sleep in the LEC when the job kicks you out.
Opps, that goes as well.
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Could always buy a cheap Jap one with the pay off I suppose. People do that sort of thing when times are hard you know...
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>>Thought I read somewhere that Barfleur or another real boat was going back to Poole but possibly on a different route.
Barfleur is presently operating under an assumed name for DFDS on Dover-Calais<<
Thanks for that, I'll have a nose around. Mind you, the Barfleur's catering arrangements had been cheapened before she was taken off. Her restaurant used to be a great place to while away a couple of hours. Ten years ago BF catering was the best, but that was when there was P&O competition on the Western Channel. Now it doesn't matter, sad to say.
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Had my nose. The Barfleur returns to Poole/Cherbourg on March 18, 2013. The projected fares will be interesting.
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Brittany Ferry Strike - UK tourists hit - Meldrew
