More than 600 Border Force officers at Heathrow airport are to strike in a dispute over shifts, the PCS union has announced.
In a recent ballot, PCS members who carry out immigration controls and passport checks at the airport voted by 90 per cent to walk out over a new roster and imposed changes to shift patterns.
The walkouts – set to take place for four days from Thursday 11 April – could cause chaos at the airport as people return home from Easter holidays.
The move could result in up to 250 staff forced out of their jobs by the end of April and will particularly affect workers with disabilities or those with caring responsibilities, the union claims.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Ministers have 14 days to withdraw these unfair and unnecessary proposals or our members at Heathrow will take strike action.
“Consultation with staff has been a farce, with our members having little or no choice about the new arrangements.
“Ripping up flexible working arrangements is no way to treat staff especially, as the government says, their work is critical to our nation’s security.
“Some members are heart-broken that the Border Force has become ‘unprofessional and inhumane’.
“If the Government is serious about border security, it should look at Border Force officers’ job security, look after its staff, scrap the changes and work with us to protect jobs and working conditions.”
Last summer, soldiers and sailors were on stand-by to check passports at airports including Heathrow after Border Force workers threatened to strike over pay, jobs, pensions and working conditions.
Unite members who work at Heathrow airport planned 29 days of strikes over last summer, but they were called off after workers voted to accept an up to 17.5 per cent pay increase.
In response to the news of the upcoming strikes, a spokesman for Heathrow airport told i passengers should be reassured because “strikes like this have been managed successfully before”, adding they will be “working closely with Home Office on contingency plans”.
The Home Office has been contacted by i for comment.
In March, a Heathrow spokesman said the airport would work closely with Border Force to reduce any disruption caused for passengers if a strike went ahead.
The news of the strike comes ahead of other travel disruptions which are set to hit the UK during the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Drivers are being warned of long tailbacks as more than 14 million trips are expected to take place across the UK over the Easter weekend.
The RAC said journeys on some popular routes could take twice as long as normal, as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the start of a two-week holiday for many schools.
Train travel will also be disrupted as Network Rail carries out engineering work, with the southern section of the West Coast Main Line closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday.
