Border Force Christmas CHAOS expected as workers vote to strike

Border Force staff are set to strike for eight days over Christmas at Heathrow, Gatwick and several other airports, the PCS union has announced.

PCS members make up for around 75% of passport control staff, resulting in Heathrow warning that checks may take longer on strike days.

The action follows a raft of industrial action announcements from civil servants, with driving test examiners among those striking.

Mark Serwotka from the PCS said strikes would “escalate” unless the Government “put the money on the table now”.

He stated that PCS members had “no option” but to strike as they are “currently skipping meals, not being able to put the heating on at home because of the poverty they are living in”.

The PCS general secretary says talks with government ministers have proved fruitless, with demands for a 2% pay rise refused.

He told a news conference: “They kept saying their door is open, but it is a very strange door because there’s nothing behind it.”

Around 1,000 Border Force staff are expected to walk out on eight days between 23 December and New Year’s Eve in Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow (terminals 2,3,4 and 5) and Manchester airports, and the port of Newhaven.

As many travel to and from the UK with the aim of visiting family over Christmas, it is a very busy time of year at airports, meaning longer queues at passport control are to be expected.

86% of PCS balloted members voted to strike across 124 Government departments and public sector employers.