Border strike scheduled for Olympics eve
HOME Office workers have said they will strike next Thursday, on the eve of the Olympics, unless the government agrees to talk over pay and job cuts.
Staff at the Border Agency, passport services and the Criminal Records Bureau are due to walk out on 26 July, the Public and Commercial Services union confirmed yesterday, in a move the CBI said “beggars belief”.
Other action such as a ban on overtime is being mooted for the duration of the Games.
The vote to strike was passed with 57.2 per cent approval on just 20 per cent turnout.
London’s airports are braced for record passenger numbers in the days leading up to the Olympics. Heathrow has forecast a 45 per cent traffic spike compared to a normal day on 26 July.
Border workers in the PCS and the Immigration Services Union staged a walkout in May over pension rights, forcing managers to man the immigration desks at airports.
Home secretary Theresa May said the industrial action so close to the Games was “shameful” but said the government will put in place contingency plans at the borders.