Families travelling through Heathrow Airport during the last weekend of the summer holidays are set to face significant disruption as Border Force workers prepare to strike.
The walkout, scheduled from Saturday, August 31, to Tuesday, September 3, will see hundreds of passport control staff at the UK’s busiest airport down tools in protest against changes to rosters and working practices.
Terminals 2, 3, 4, and 5 at Heathrow will all be impacted by the strike, which is expected to affect thousands of passengers as they return from their holidays.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), representing the Border Force staff, announced the strike following ongoing disputes over working conditions. According to the union, the changes imposed by management are forcing employees to choose between their jobs and caring responsibilities—a choice union leaders say is unacceptable.
Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, stated, “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. The only reason they’re being forced to choose is because their managers are forcing them.”
Heathcote acknowledged that the strike is likely to cause considerable disruption but emphasised that it could be avoided if management heeds the concerns of its workers. The strike comes after seven days of industrial action earlier this year, during the May half-term holidays, when the Home Office did not make an offer to the union.
Around 500 Border Force staff are expected to participate in the strike, which will affect all airlines operating out of Heathrow. The union has also imposed an overtime ban that will extend from the strike days until September 22, further increasing the likelihood of delays at passport control.
Heathrow has faced numerous threats of industrial action this year, particularly after the airport’s new chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, announced plans to introduce cost-saving measures, including outsourcing security jobs to third-party contractors. While a threatened walkout by 800 security staff in May was averted at the last minute, the threat of further disruption continues to loom over the airport.
The upcoming strike is part of a broader wave of industrial unrest across the UK, despite the new Labour government’s efforts to quell strikes by offering significant pay rises to public sector workers. Recent deals, including a 22 per cent pay increase for junior doctors and a 5.5 per cent salary boost for millions of public sector staff, have raised concerns that taxes may need to be increased in the upcoming Budget to cover the rising government wage bill.
In response to the strike announcement, Heathrow Airport referred to the matter as a Home Office issue, with a spokesperson noting that previous strikes had been mitigated by contingency plans that kept disruption to a minimum. The Home Office has been approached for comment on the planned industrial action.