Border police workers launched an eight-day strike at six of Britain’s biggest airports on Friday to demand higher wages, sparking fears of unrest over the Christmas holiday period.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union and Home Office staff began the strike on Friday morning at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and also the port of Newhaven in southern England.
Thanks to the mobilization of the army, Heathrow has ensured that checks can be carried out without the unusual waiting times at dawn, and that no flights have been cancelled.
The strike will continue until the end of the year, as expected, with a suspension on December 27. The strikers are demanding pay increases as inflation in the UK is around 11%.
The country is facing a wave of social protests on a scale not seen in decades. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the health sector was hit hard by the strike of nurses and ambulances. But the government is inflexible in the face of the strikers’ allegations. Mark Sirotka, general secretary of the Communist Party of Pakistan trade union, warned that there would be an “escalation” of labor strikes in January if the government refused to negotiate.
He told the BBC: “We think the measures at the border are going to be very effective. We hope the government will do what needs to be done, sit at the negotiating table and put money into it.” “If this is not the case, we will support this measure until May and will hold a new vote if necessary,” he threatened.
The unionist said the border guards’ strike was “part of the public service strike that I represent. The average annual salary is 23,000 pounds (26,150 euros). 40,000 union members have to go to food banks. They are poor workers.” . “But the government’s response to its employees (…) is to offer to increase their salaries by 2%,” he denounced.
Postal workers (Royal Mail) also joined the strike, causing delays. Other strikes will also occur in the field of railway transport.
