Border security personnel working at airports in England went on strike for 8 days during Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Border security workers who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) started a work stoppage due to a dispute over wage increases, pensions and job security.
The strike will affect Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow and Manchester airports and the port of Newhaven on 23-26 December and 28-31 December.
The passport control personnel constitute the majority of the union members who will participate in the work stoppage.
For this reason, it is anticipated that passengers will experience delays at passport control and long queues will form.
It is planned to prevent disruptions to be experienced by passengers by assigning army personnel and Ministry of Interior volunteers to the field during the work stoppage of border security workers.
“The government refused to negotiate”
Mark Serwotka, Secretary General of the PCS union, told the press about the strike that the lowest salary increase of 2 percent was offered to border security personnel.
“The government knew for months that it had to do something about this crisis but refused to negotiate, refused to put a dime on the table and left us no choice but to take industrial action,” Serwotka said. used the phrases.
Rejecting the government’s 2 percent salary increase proposal, the PCS union is demanding a 10 percent salary increase.
Annual inflation in the UK was announced as 10.7 percent in November.
Highway workers also left their jobs
On the other hand, road workers working in the southeast of England and in the capital London, who are members of the PCS union, also started a work stoppage that will last until 26 December.
The strike of workers who operate and maintain roads, as well as traffic officers, will take place in the West Midlands and South West on 30 and 31 December. Road workers will leave work across the UK on 3-4 January.
Postal service workers are also on strike at Christmas
In England, Royal Mail postal service employees, who are also members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), started a 2-day work stoppage.
The wave of strikes is growing in the country
Many unions, who argue that salaries are falling in the face of rising cost of living and inflation in the country, and therefore do not accept the wage increase offered below the inflation exceeding 10 percent on an annual basis, are taking the decision to strike one after the other.
There are a wide range of occupational groups, especially teachers, bus drivers, port workers, journalists, public personnel, nurses, criminal lawyers, railway, airport, university, aviation and postal service workers, among those who participated in the action to quit.
In addition to the strike decisions, thousands of people protesting the cost of living and austerity policies frequently organize demonstrations and marches across the country, especially in the capital, London.
The government, on the other hand, is looking for ways to cope with the growing wave of strikes. In this context, the British government warned that it could “respond hard” to trade unions that insist on going on strike, and announced that they are working on new laws against the strike wave.