Border staff to strike over Christmas

PCS union chief warns there will be ‘significant delays and disruption’ for festive holidaymakers

CHRISTMAS travellers face holiday flight delays and queues as Border Force staff stage an eight-day strike at Britain’s biggest airports over pay, pensions and jobs from Dec 23.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union announced yesterday its members in Border Force would strike for four days over Christmas – from Dec 23 to 26 – and then four days in the run up to the New Year, from Dec 28 to 31.

The union, whose 1,000 striking Border Force members account for up to three in four frontline staff who check passports of inbound passengers, will mount the action at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff airports, and at Newhaven port.

The PCS is seeking a 10 per cent pay rise, and is fighting cuts to pensions and redundancy deals.

Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, warned there would be “significant delays and disruption” for inbound passengers despite the deployment of the military to airports to cover for striking Border Force officers.

The Government has put on standby 600 military personnel and hundreds more civil servants who will be dispatched to airports and ports to plug the gaps in border and immigration controls left by striking workers.

Airports and airlines are braced for 20 per cent of flights being cancelled depending on how effectively the military can take over. Heathrow said it was working with Border Force and the airlines to minimise disruption but warned there would be queues.

A Heathrow spokesman said: “The Home Office advises that immigration and customs checks may take longer during peak times on strike days.

“Passengers are advised to check their flight status with their airline before travelling. We encourage all parties to resolve this dispute quickly.”

Mr Serwotka revealed he had written on Tuesday to Adml Sir Tony Radakin, the head of the Armed Forces, to warn him it would be an outrage and affront to travellers to use the military to break the strike.

He said: “I made it clear that we think it would be an outrage if the British Armed Forces, who surely have far better things to do, are essentially brought in to strike break for public sector workers on poverty pay without adequate training.

“The idea that the military in full military dress will be there to meet people at passport checks at our airports is an affront to not just the people coming to this country, but actually to the skilled jobs of the workers who take a lot of training that they think they can replace with only three minutes’ training.”

Mr Serwotka has met government ministers but he said they were refusing to increase a two per cent pay rise. “They keep saying their door is open, but it is a very strange door because there’s nothing behind it,” he said.

He warned that the PCS would escalate industrial action in the new year unless the deadlock was broken, and indicated that the most likely targets for action would be the Driving Vehicle Licensing Authority, responsible for driving licences, and the passport office. He also said that up to 30 unions could coordinate their strike action to maximise the impact on the public. PCS members at the Highways Agency have timed their strike with the RMT’S. Mr Serwotka told The Daily Telegraph: “If 30 unions have ballots for action, then ultimately there has to be 30 unions doing something on the same day. Clearly if unions chose to do that, it would be the most significant industrial action in a decade.

“Members will start with industrial action next week on national highways, with traffic officers taking industrial action over a five-week period rolling around the country. Six of those days coordinated to take place on the same day as rail strikes called by the RMT.”

A government source said: “He has revealed what we feared all along – militant unions are colluding to cause maximum misery over Christmas.”