This content was published on December 23, 2022 – 13:14
(AFP)
Border Police staff began an eight-day strike at six of Britain’s major airports on Friday to demand pay rises, raising fears of disruption over the Christmas holiday period.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Home Office workers, began strike action at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports this Friday morning; Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester and also at the port of Newhaven in the south of England.
Heathrow Airport confirmed that dawn checks were being carried out without unusual waits and that no flights had been cancelled, thanks to the army’s mobilisation.
The strike will last till the end of this year and will be called off on December 27, according to forecasts. The strikers are demanding pay rises as UK inflation hovers at nearly 11%.
The country is facing a wave of social unrest on a scale not seen in decades. However, the government would not budge on the demands of the strikers.
Mark Servotka, general secretary of the PCS union, warned there would be a “surge” in workers’ strikes in January if the government refused to negotiate.
“We hope the measures at the borders will be very effective. We hope the government will do what it needs to do, which is to sit at the negotiating table and put the money in,” he told the BBC.
“If not (…) we will support this measure until May and if necessary we will hold a new referendum”, he threatened.
The unionist said the border guards’ strike “is part of a public service strike that I represent. The average annual salary is 23,000 pounds (26,150 euros). About 40,000 union members have to go to food banks. They are poor workers.” . “But the response of the government to its employees (…) is to give a 2% salary increase”, he condemned.
Postal workers (Royal Mail) also participated in the strike causing delays. Other strikes will also occur in rail transport. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the health sector was also hit hard by the strike by nurses and ambulances.
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