Britain will face an unprecedented wave of strikes this month, as many different sectors of workers have announced strike action – especially in the heart of the festive season. This is the first really big challenge for Rishi Sunak’s government.
The workers of the so-called Border Force were added to the long strike “list” today, which means serious disruptions in the operation of the country’s main airports.
The general secretary of the PCS union has announced successive strikes from December 23 to 26 and from December 28 to 31 by Border Force workers in transport and immigration services, national highways – and, of course, the country’s six main airports , including Heathrow and Gatwick.
At airports, members of the Border Force are responsible for passport controls. This means checks on travelers’ details will take much longer, with Heathrow authorities already warning of long delays. The union announced the strikes, protesting low wages amid a “surge” in the cost of living, but also reacting to the new government’s threats of job cuts.
In fact, he made it clear that the protests will continue and escalate with the new year.
Britain’s most powerful rail union, the RMT, recently announced strike action from Christmas Eve until December 27 as a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions escalates.
Yesterday, Tuesday, thousands of ambulance staff announced they would be off duty on December 21st. At the same time, nurses have announced a strike from December 15 to 20 and postal workers are preparing to “roll down” at a critical period for the distribution of greeting cards and gifts.
However, ministers in the Sunak government appear unwilling to improve pay offers, while Downing Street believes, according to Politico, that it has voters on its side, at least vis-à-vis the railways. The government representative, in fact, called on the unions “to recognize that they still have time to back down”, something “that public opinion and the government want to see”.
