Border guards call off strike
UK border guards have called off their planned strike, which had threatened to cause further chaos at airports including Heathrow on the eve of the Olympic Games.
The Public and Commercial Services Union said it had cancelled its day of action today after the Government agreed to create more than 1,000 new jobs. However, Home Office minister Damian Green insisted these positions were already being advertised and it had not promised any new jobs.
The PCS said it had also been promised significant investment in the border force and passport service, which it said would lead to additional jobs.
The Government had earlier announced plans to cut 8,500 Home Office jobs, including 1,000 from the border force and more than 5,000 from UKBA.
"In a significant development, the Home Office is now advertising 800 new permanent jobs at the borders – including posts at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and other airports and ports across the UK – and will be recruiting 300 new jobs in the passport service," said the union.
It said this was "a welcome step towards a recognition that the Home Office has been cracking under the strain of massive job cuts – with long queues at airports, a backlog of 276,000 unresolved immigration and asylum cases, and reports of holidaymakers having to wait weeks and travel miles across the country to get a passport".
The union claimed it had secured a commitment to ongoing negotiations to address the issues under dispute, in particular efforts to avoid compulsory redundancies in the passport agency.
It issued the following statement yesterday: "Taking these factors into account, the union is announcing today that it will not go ahead with strike action planned for tomorrow and industrial action short of a strike scheduled to run until 20 August, to allow for these talks to take place."
Today will be the busiest day in Heathrow Airport’s history as thousands of spectators flood into London in time for the Games’ opening ceremony.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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