Border Force officials to walk out for eight days over Christmas

Around 15,000 Border Force members of the PCS union voted in favour of strike action last month in a dispute over pay pensions, jobs and redundancy.

The union on Wednesday (7 December) confirmed members would walk out over from 23-26 December and again from 28-31 December.

Action will take place at six UK airports – Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow (Terminals 2-5) and Manchester – as well as at the Port of Newhaven.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, said the strikes would have a "major effect" on people using the UK’s public services.

"We have tried for months to negotiate, but we’ve been ignored," he said at a press conference in London. "No money has been made available or put on the table."

Serwotka said 86.2% of PCS members balloted on strike action across 124 departments and organisations voted in favour of strike action, including "some of the lowest paid workers in the UK".

He said members had experienced 10 years of pay rises below the rate of inflation. "Our members have no option but to take industrial action," he continued, adding the action would escalate.

"All PCS members working as operational officers in the border force will be called out on strike on 23-26 December and 28-31 December," he added.

The Home Office has said eGates will remain operational throughout the dispute for those with biometric passports.

Those eligible must be British citizens or nationals of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA.

The eGates will also be open to those who are a member of the Registered Traveller Service. Children aged 12-plus can also use them, but 12 to 17 year olds must be accompanied by an adult.

On Tuesday (6 December), two aviation representatives told Abta’s Travel Matters seminar passengers should expect longer waits, but stressed the system would hold up. However, The Telegraph – citing "an airport chief" – said cancellations were likely.

More to follow.