Introduction: Border Force staff strike as Christmas getaway beginsGood morning.
Hundreds of thousands of air passengers face possible disruption over the coming days as Border Force employees join the ranks of workers striking in the UK.
And with postal workers and National Highways staff also holding industrial action, and an overtime ban on the railways, people face disruption and delays in the Christmas rush.
Passengers arriving at several UK airports are being warned to expect delays over the strike action, which involves border controls staff who check passports.
The actions will affect London airports Heathrow and Gatwick, plus Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow and the port of Newhaven on the south coast.
They will take place from today until December 26th, and again from 28th to 31st December.
The Border Force strike is being organized by the Public and Commercial Services Union, which is seeking a 10% pay rise, “pensions justice”, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka urged the govenment earlier this month to put “money on the table” to stop the strikes, saying:
“Like so many workers, our members are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. They are desperate. They are being told there is no money for them, while they watch ministers giving out government contracts worth billions of pounds to their mates.
“Some sections of the media have accused us of playing politics with these strikes. Let me be clear: our dispute is with the employer.
“We will fight to improve our members’ pay, terms and conditions regardless of who is in Downing Street.”
The UK government has made preparations to limit the impact of the walkout, including training military personnel “to step in and keep our border safe”.
Hundreds of Armed Forces personnel will provide support at airports in England and Scotland as Border Force staff take strike action.
About 625 military personnel will be on hand, with most deployed to the UK’s busiest airport at Heathrow.
— Forces News (@ForcesNews) December 23, 2022 But, it also says travellers arriving in the UK over the Christmas period should expect delays and disruption. That could include longer wait times at passport control, and possible disruption to journeys.
eGates should still be working, though, so passengers with compatible passports should use those.
Steve Dann, Border Force chief operating officer, has apologised for any disuption suffered, adding:
Border Force’s number one priority to is keep our citizens safe and borders secure. We are working together with partners across the travel industry to ensure we can continue to meet critical demand and support the flow of passengers and goods through our border.
During the periods of industrial action, travellers should be prepared for disruption.
We encourage everyone to check the latest advice from your operators before travelling.
Thousands of Royal Mail staff are beginning a two-day strike today, involving members of the Communication Workers Union who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters.
Royal Mail says its Customer Service Points will be closed on the strike days (Friday 23 and Saturday 24 December) for collecting or dropping off items. The company also said it will do all it could to ensure delivery of last-minute Christmas cards and parcels.
National Highways workers began strike action yesterday that will run until Christmas Day, as millions start their Christmas getaways by road.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), including control-centre staff and traffic officers, are striking in London and the south-east. It follows two days of stoppages by members of the PCS on 16 and 17 December in the north-west and Yorkshire.
The four days of industrial action by the 46 members will be at three depots across the region, in Godstone, Guildford and Winchester, the union said.
Key events
Strike action set to hit Christmas Eve train servicesCommuters waiting for trains at Kings Cross Station in London, Britain, on 17 December 2022. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPATrain passengers are being urged to only travel on Christmas Eve if their journey is “absolutely necessary” as a strike will decimate services.
A walkout by thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail means Britain’s railways will shut down early, and some routes will have no trains all day.
Network Rail has said trains will stop running at around 3pm on Christmas Eve, PA Media reports.
The early closure means the last departures on some long-distance routes will be before 1pm.
Examples of last train times include 10.45am for Leeds to London, 11am for London to Edinburgh and 12.48pm for London to Manchester.
East Midlands Railway will only run an “extremely limited service” between London St Pancras and Corby, meaning there will be no trains on routes such as London St Pancras-Sheffield and London St Pancras-Nottingham.
No South Western Railway trains will run on several routes to and from London Waterloo, including Reading, Twickenham and Dorking.
Chiltern Railways will not operate any trains to or from Oxford, or north of Banbury.
Travel today to get home for Christmas – that’s the message from Network Rail for those planning to travel on Christmas Eve. There are reduced services today and trains that are running tomorrow finish very early – that’s due to RMT strikes over pay and working conditions. pic.twitter.com/7o61msnFdv
— Victoria Whittam (@vicwhittamITV) December 23, 2022 The Border Force strike comes as airlines brace for their busiest Christmas in three years.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, points out that some airlines have had a rough year on the stock market, despite the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
“Border Force workers will go on strike today, adding to the chorus of staff who are frustrated that pay is being eroded by inflation, prompting the summer-turned-winter of discontent. They are also walking out over conditions and pensions.
Around 1000 Border Force workers are staging industrial action from 23rd until 26th December and from 28th until 31st December, likely to cause significant disruption to international travel during the busy festive period and school holidays. After recent years of subdued international travel because of the pandemic, this Christmas is expected to see the highest passenger volumes since pre-covid in 2019.
Shares in Ryanair are under pressure while EasyJet and British Airways’ parent company IAG are also trading slightly lower.
2022 was meant to be the comeback year for travel stocks but problems with baggage handling, cancellations, strikes and general disruption have prompted these stocks to slide, on track to end the year sharply lower.
EasyJet is down by nearly 45% year-to-date and Wizz Air is down 57%.”
Severe traffic warning as Christmas getaway beginsA severe traffic warning has been issued as millions of drivers embark on Christmas getaway journeys, PA Media reports.
The RAC, which expects 7.9 million leisure journeys to be made across the UK on Friday and Christmas Eve combined, published the alert for a stretch of the M25 orbital motorway.
Congestion on the clockwise section between junction seven for the M23 and junction 16 for the M40 is expected to peak at 12.30pm on Friday, when delays of around 50 minutes are likely.
Other roads where long queues are expected on Friday include the M60 near Manchester, the M6 in north-west England and the M40 in Oxfordshire.
Junction four of the M20 westbound in Kent remains closed on Friday morning after a serious crash on Thursday.
National Highways said vehicles are being diverted on to exit and entry slip roads, causing three miles of congestion and delays of at least 45 minutes.
Drivers in Wales and southern England are also battling with heavy rain, which the Met Office said will spread northwards to reach southern Scotland and Northern Ireland during Friday afternoon.
What to do if your flight is disruptedGuy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel, has advice for passengers who experience disruption due to the Border Force strikes.
“If your flight is cancelled or delayed as a result of strike action by border force staff, you are unlikely to be eligible for compensation as these events are considered outside of the airline’s control. However, your airline still has a duty of care to you – and if your flight is cancelled you have a right to a refund or to be re-routed as soon as possible, even if that means flying with a rival carrier.
“If you are significantly delayed, usually by two hours or more, your airline should provide assistance including free meals or refreshments, or overnight accommodation if required. If your flight is delayed by more than five hours, you have the same rights as if you had suffered a cancellation, and can request a refund or rebooking.”
Glasgow Airport has said it doesn’t anticipate any ‘significant challenges’ to passengers due to the Border Force staff strike – with extra staff on hand to help with any disruption.
Statement from Glasgow Airport regarding the proposed strike dates beginning today: “We do not anticipate any significant challenges for passengers travelling through international arrivals as a result of the industrial action being taken by Border Force staff. (1/2)
— Glasgow Airport ✈️ (@GLA_Airport) December 23, 2022 Mitigation measures are in place and additional Glasgow Airport staff will also be on hand to ensure any unlikely disruption is kept to an absolute minimum.” (2/2)
— Glasgow Airport ✈️ (@GLA_Airport) December 23, 2022 Here’s our news story on PCS union head Mark Serwotka’s warning that the strike disruption by Border Force staff could last six months, and a “huge escalation” in January unless the government comes to the negotiating table.
Heathrow: No disruption so farBritain’s biggest airport said that so far there has been no disruption from the Border Force strike.
As of this morning, Heathrow said it was operating as normal with minimal queueing at passport control within the immigration halls.
There have been no flight cancellations due to the industrial action.
A Heathrow spokesperson said:
“The morning arrivals peak has started well. Immigration halls are free flowing at Heathrow with Border Force and the military contingency providing a good service.”
One passenger has confirmed on Twitter that they didn’t experience any delays at the border this morning:
Landed at heathrow at 6:15am. Border force was well staffed. Lots of guys in camo. No delays. You’d have thought the ones on strike were the baggage handlers.
— oof (@croncrete) December 23, 2022 Hauliers who are due to enter the UK during the Border Force strike action at the Port of Newhaven have been warned there could be disruption, including longer queues.
More details here.
PCS union chief Mark Serwotka has also told Sky News that the civil service strike action will “escalate significantly” next month, unless the government responds.
Serwotka points out that 5,000 PCS members have taken action so far, affecting driving tests, motorways (road traffic officers and control room operators working for National Highways), the Rural Payments Agency and at some job centres.
But, 100,000 people have voted to strike.
Serwotka predicts that:
In January, if the government still refuses to talk, despite what’s going to happen at our airports, on our roads, with our driving tests and with payments to farmers, the strike will escalate significantly.
He also anticipates that other public sector workers will make same choice – pointing out that teachers are being balloted about strike action.
PCS union predicts ‘huge escalation’ in strike action unless government negotiatesMark Serwotka, head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, insists that industrial action is a last resort, and warned that it could last many months unless the government improves its pay offer.
He explains that the strike by Border Force is part of a wider civil service dispute, speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme.
The average wage in the civil service is £23,000, Serwotka says, and there are 40,000 PCS members using food banks and 45,000 are claiming in-work benefits. “They are the in-work poor,” he says.
Serwotka explains that the government was given a dossier in which staff explained they were skipping meals, didn’t put the lights on at home, and were terrified about affording Christmas.
The response, he says, was a 2% pay offer, tens of thousands of job cuts, cutting redundency terms by 33% and “robbing” staff 2% every month in overpaid pensions contributions (details here).
Serwotka says:
When you’re faced with such existential threats to your job security, to your livelihood, and are literally living in poverty and using a food bank, industrial action is a last resort.
Serwotka dismisses the government’s claim that meeting pay demands from unions would be inflationary. If a low-paid public sector worker gets an inflation-matching pay rise, they’ll spend it in their local economy, supporting the hospitality sector and British manufacturing, he points out, adding:
That’s exactly the type of boost the economy needs.
Also, of course, they’ll pay tax and national insurance.
“Civil servants who I represent, average wage is £23,000/yr, 40,000 of our members are using foodbanks, 45,000 of them are claiming in work benefits, they are the in-work poor…. and the govts response is a 2% pay offer”
Mark Serwotka from the @pcs_union on #R4Today pic.twitter.com/QS0suku5J4
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) December 23, 2022 Q: How long are you prepared for this industrial action to take?
Serwotka predicts the action at the border will be “very effective”, and hopes the government will get around the negotiating table “and put some money up front.”
But if not, the PCS are raising money, and has a strike fund that means the union can “sustain this action for months”.
Serwotka says PCS’s strike mandate lasts until May, so it will support the action until May, and reballot members if it had to.
Q: So, six months of this strike action?
Serwotka predicts the industrial action will intensify next month, unless ministers agree to negotiate:
Not only could there be six months, I think in January what you will see is a huge escalation of this action in the civil service, and across the rest of our economy, unless the government get around the negotiating table.
“You’ll see a huge escalation of this action”
Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of PCS union which represents Border Force staff on strike today, says industrial action will spread in January and last for months unless ministers move on | #R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 23, 2022 Encouraging news for passengers arriving at Manchester:
Just arrived back from the Maldives into Manchester and no issues at passport control / border force. Family of five with kids. Straight through. #manchesterairport
— Antony Chesworth (@AntonyChesworth) December 23, 2022 Earlier this week, Manchester Airport said there could be longer queues at immigration control once the Border Force strikes began, but did not anticipate any flights being cancelled.
Delays at the border are most likely after several flights land around the same time.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership group, the UK’s largest independent travel agent group, predicts that “the vast majority of people are likely to face NO major delay at passport control”.
Anxious time today for travellers flying into the 6 UK airports impacted by #borderforce strikes. Whilst things do go wrong, the vast majority of people are likely to face NO major delay at passport control, when multiple flights arrive at the same time there is always a queue.
— Julia Lo Bue-Said (@jlo_said) December 23, 2022 Full story: Border Force staff join strikes as postal workers walk out again
Gwyn Topham
Heathrow, the biggest of the six airports where Border Force staff are striking, has said it expected the vast majority of journeys to be unaffected, with no flights cancelled before the industrial action.
About 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will continue to strike over the remaining days of 2022, apart from 27 December.
Just under 9,000 flights are now scheduled to land at the six affected airports – Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester – during the strikes, carrying up to 1.8 million passengers, according to data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium. Officials will also strike at one seaport, Newhaven in East Sussex.
The airports are confident that the contingency staff and e-gates, which will be unaffected, will process most passengers effectively during the strikes. The volume of passengers travelling through airports is still only about 85% of pre-pandemic levels.
Here’s the full story:
Gatwick: Flights are operating normally, but passport checks will take longerFlights are operating normally at Gatwick this morning, says Adam Jones, the head of passenger operations at the airport, as the Border Force strike begins.
He told Sky News that everything was working smoothly at the border this morning, with contingency staff in place. He’s confident that the airport will operate as normal, with flights arriving and departing on time.
Jones says:
We expect passport checks to take a bit longer, and we do anticipate some disruption, but flights are operating normally – arrivals and departures – and we expect that to continue.
The passport control booths at Gatwick are being staffed by Border Force staff who are not taking part in the strike, Jones adds, along with members of the armed forces and volunteers from across the Home Office who have been trained to operate border control.
At very busy times, there could be two hours of disruption at the border, Jones predicts – pointing out that eGates are available too.
To use an eGate, you need a biometric symbol on your passport, be at least 12 years old, be either a British citizen or a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA, or be a member of the Registered Traveller Service.
Arriving from outside the UK? There may be longer waits today at Passport Control due to Border Force strikes 🛂
Use the e-gates if you hold an eligible biometric passport, remove hats, headphones + masks 👒🎧
Allow extra time for your onward journey
ℹ t.co/UcSzIxxd9Z pic.twitter.com/dS7YM6B42I
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) December 23, 2022 Jones adds that he doesn’t see any risk of Gatwick having to shut – but if queing becomes excessive, the airport will control the amount of traffic arriving.
“Flights are operating normally.”
Head of passenger operations at Gatwick Airport Adam Jones says passport checks are expected to take “a bit longer” due to Border Force strikes – but insists everything is “working smoothly” with contingent staff.t.co/mfslthH9jU pic.twitter.com/hjm57Y9LkB
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 23, 2022 Introduction: Border Force staff strike as Christmas getaway beginsGood morning.
Hundreds of thousands of air passengers face possible disruption over the coming days as Border Force employees join the ranks of workers striking in the UK.
And with postal workers and National Highways staff also holding industrial action, and an overtime ban on the railways, people face disruption and delays in the Christmas rush.
Passengers arriving at several UK airports are being warned to expect delays over the strike action, which involves border controls staff who check passports.
The actions will affect London airports Heathrow and Gatwick, plus Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow and the port of Newhaven on the south coast.
They will take place from today until December 26th, and again from 28th to 31st December.
The Border Force strike is being organized by the Public and Commercial Services Union, which is seeking a 10% pay rise, “pensions justice”, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka urged the govenment earlier this month to put “money on the table” to stop the strikes, saying:
“Like so many workers, our members are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. They are desperate. They are being told there is no money for them, while they watch ministers giving out government contracts worth billions of pounds to their mates.
“Some sections of the media have accused us of playing politics with these strikes. Let me be clear: our dispute is with the employer.
“We will fight to improve our members’ pay, terms and conditions regardless of who is in Downing Street.”
The UK government has made preparations to limit the impact of the walkout, including training military personnel “to step in and keep our border safe”.
Hundreds of Armed Forces personnel will provide support at airports in England and Scotland as Border Force staff take strike action.
About 625 military personnel will be on hand, with most deployed to the UK’s busiest airport at Heathrow.
— Forces News (@ForcesNews) December 23, 2022 But, it also says travellers arriving in the UK over the Christmas period should expect delays and disruption. That could include longer wait times at passport control, and possible disruption to journeys.
eGates should still be working, though, so passengers with compatible passports should use those.
Steve Dann, Border Force chief operating officer, has apologised for any disuption suffered, adding:
Border Force’s number one priority to is keep our citizens safe and borders secure. We are working together with partners across the travel industry to ensure we can continue to meet critical demand and support the flow of passengers and goods through our border.
During the periods of industrial action, travellers should be prepared for disruption.
We encourage everyone to check the latest advice from your operators before travelling.
Thousands of Royal Mail staff are beginning a two-day strike today, involving members of the Communication Workers Union who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters.
Royal Mail says its Customer Service Points will be closed on the strike days (Friday 23 and Saturday 24 December) for collecting or dropping off items. The company also said it will do all it could to ensure delivery of last-minute Christmas cards and parcels.
National Highways workers began strike action yesterday that will run until Christmas Day, as millions start their Christmas getaways by road.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), including control-centre staff and traffic officers, are striking in London and the south-east. It follows two days of stoppages by members of the PCS on 16 and 17 December in the north-west and Yorkshire.
The four days of industrial action by the 46 members will be at three depots across the region, in Godstone, Guildford and Winchester, the union said.