UK Border Force staff at Heathrow to strike during homeward rush
During the rush of holidaymakers returning to the UK, 650 passport officers will walk out
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Passport officers at Britain’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, will walk out during the homeward rush of UK holidaymakers at the end of the summer school holidays.
The PCS union says 650 members who work in passport control at Heathrow will strike from Saturday 31 August to Tuesday 3 September.
The stoppage will be immediately followed by a work-to-rule and overtime ban until Sunday 22 September.
The aim of the strike is to cause maximum impact as hundreds of thousands of families return from holidays abroad. While most arrivals at Heathrow use eGates to get through passport control, these are not available to children under 10.
The UK Border Force staff are in dispute about what the union calls “enforced changes to their rota”.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our hard-working members at Heathrow take great pride in keeping our country’s border safe, but many are being forced out of the job they love.
“They’re being told by managers to choose between caring responsibilities and their job, which is no choice at all. The only reason they’re being forced to choose is because their managers are forcing them.
“We know our strike action is likely to cause serious disruption to travellers using Heathrow at the end of the summer, but the strike can be avoided if the employer listens to the concerns of our members.”
Since the dispute began, the officers have taken seven days of strike action.
Previous walk-outs have not had a significant effect on operations, though the decision to target the end of the school holidays may lead to long queues.
The Independent has asked the Home Office, which runs UK border force, for a comment.
During the last set of walk-outs, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The changes we are implementing will bring the working arrangements for Border Force Heathrow staff in line with the way staff work at other ports, provide them with more certainty on working patterns, and improve the service to the travelling public.”
The airport and UK Border Force have previously said they have robust contingency plans in place.
