Due to various groups’ plans to strike over low wages, Britons will likely have a difficult time throughout the holiday season. The Border Force employees will walk out for eight days around Christmas and into the new year at the airports of Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Gatwick, Heathrow (terminals 2, 3, 4, and 5), Manchester, and the port of Newhaven, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the PCS Union. There are currently at least 1,000 employees.
Heathrow has warned travelers to expect higher check-in wait times
Mark Serwotka, the head of the PCS, has issued a warning that the strikes will “increase” until the government chooses to “put money on the table today.”
On strike days, Heathrow has previously warned travelers to expect higher check-in wait times. Notably, around 75% of the personnel working at passport control are PCS members.
Examiners for driving tests will be among the thousands of other state servants participating in industrial action.
More than 40,000 employees from Network Rail and 14 train operating firms will stage 48-hour walkouts
In addition to thousands of other civil officials, including driving test examiners the Department for Work and Pensions, the Highways Agency, and other organizations are striking.
Serwotka claimed that given their current situation, they have no choice but to go on strike. They said they are “currently skipping meals, not being able to put the heating on at home because of the poverty they are living in”.
Ministers in the cabinet have notified the PCS general secretary that they will not boost their salaries by 2%. “They keep saying their door is open. But it is a very strange door because there’s nothing behind it,” he told a news conference.
Traffic enforcers from the National Highways Agency, who will participate in five weeks of nationwide rolling strikes, and employees from the Rural Payments Agency which works with farmers, are among those taking part in industrial action.
The RMT, the largest rail union in the UK, has scheduled a strike from December 24 at 6 p.m. to December 27. The strikes are in addition to those that have already been publicized. On December 13, 14, 16, and 17, as well as on January 3, 4, and 7, 2023 more than 40,000 employees from Network Rail and 14 train operating firms will stage 48-hour walkouts.
