Passport staff at five major UK airports threaten strike from December 23

LONDON, Dec 7 (KUNA) -- Border Force passport staff at five major UK airports will hold an eight-day strike from December 23, their union warned on Wednesday.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union said staff at the arrival halls of Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow will observe a strike from December 23 to 26 and December 28.
The union attributed its decision to a deadlock reached with the government over demands for increased employee pay and job security assurances. The government also threatened to cut jobs and amend pension rules, according to PCS.
Around 40,000 union members suffer wage shortages, with some being forced to resort to food banks for meals, PCS chief Mark Serwotka said.
He said the union has been trying to negotiate a solution over the matter with the government for months now but all of its demands have been ignored.
The only option left has been to strike, he added, in order to defend the interests of these employees, particularly after reaching a point where they are not able to afford heating due to the high cost of gas and electricity bills.
Some 86 per cent of the 100,000 union members voted in favour of the strike, a number the PCS chief said was "unprecedented." He said that the scale of the strikes would increase going into the new year if the government is not brought to the negotiating table, warning of further border and Dover Port employee strikes if these conditions were not met.
Two weeks ago, a UK Office of National Statistics report revealed that food prices recorded an annual increase of around 16.4 per cent at a rate not witnessed since 1977. (end) kd.sd