UK set to come to a halt during festive season as more worker bodies announce strikes
UK strikes
Britons are set to face a tough time over the festive season as several workers' groups have announced their plans to go on strike over dismal pay. The PCS Union announced on Wednesday that the Border Force staff will go on strike for eight days over Christmas stretching till new year at Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Gatwick, Heathrow (terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5) and Manchester airports, as well as at the port of Newhaven. The number stands at at least 1,000 workers.
PCS chief Mark Serwotka has warned that the strikes will "escalate" until the government decides to "put money on the table now".
Heathrow has already said that passengers should be ready to wait longer for checks on strike days. Notably, about 75 per cent of passport control staff are PCS members.
Also Read |Explained: From nurses to teachers why workers across UK are going on strike
Thousands of other civil servants,including driving test examiners, will also be taking industrial action.
Department for Work and Pensions and the Highways Agency are also going on strike as are thousands of other civil servants, including driving test examiners.
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Serwotka said that they have no other option but to go on strike as they are "currently skipping meals, not being able to put the heating on at home because of the poverty they are living in".
PCS general secretary informed that government ministers are not agreeing to increase a two per cent pay rise. "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.
Among others who are joining industrial action are traffic officers at the National Highways Agency who will be taking part in five weeks of rolling strikes across the country, and staff at the Rural Payments Agency, which deals with farmers.
Workers at the UK's biggest rail union, the RMT, have planned to walk out from 6 pm on December 24 until December 27. The strikes are in addition to the previously announced strikes. Over 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies are staging 48-hour walk-outs on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January 2023.
(With inputs from agencies)
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