Immigration police strike shakes major airports in Britain | The Prime Minister said he was sad and disappointed

staff Border police It started on Friday Eight-day strike at six of the UK’s largest airports to demand higher wages, raising fears of unrest during the Christmas holiday period.

Syndicate members General and Commercial Services (PCS)An employee of the Ministry of Interior, the strike began on Friday morning at London airports From Heathrow and Gatwick; Also in those Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester and also in the port of Newhaven, southern England. For its part, Heathrow Airport confirmed that the controls are taking place without unusual waiting periods at dawn, thanks to the mobilization of the army, and that no flight has been cancelled.

The strike will continue until the end of the year, according to expectations, with a suspension on December 27. Strikers demand Wages increase with UK inflation running at nearly 11 per cent.

PCS General Secretary, Mark SirotkaHe warned that there would be an escalation in strikes by civil servants in January if the government refused to negotiate. “We think the measures at the border will be very effective. We hope that the government will do what it must, sit down at the negotiating table and put money inHe told the British media: BBC He added that if this is not the case, they will support this measure until May and will hold a new vote, if necessary.

This strike by the Border Police is part of the public service strike that I represent. The average annual salary is 23 thousand pounds. About 40,000 union members have to go to food banks. They are poor workers“But the government’s response to its employees is to offer a 2 percent wage increase,” said the trade unionist.

social protests

The country was hit by a wave of social protests a scale not seen in decades. But the government is inflexible in the face of the demands of the strikers. This Friday, Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said he was saddened and disappointed by the jet lag, especially at Christmas, facing passengers. “When it comes to the difficult issue of setting public wages, the government has acted fairly and reasonably in accepting all recommendations of public sector wage review bodies,” she added.

the Executive deployment of military personnel and immigration officials Other departments to try to minimize the effects of the strike on the airports affected, Heathrow and Gatwick in London, as well as Birmingham (central England), Manchester (northern England), Cardiff (Wales) and Glasgow (Scotland).

Airports are also confident that the automatic passport control gates, which can be used by those over the age of 12 with British, European Union (EU) passports and countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, will also speed up check-in to the UK.

A Heathrow spokesperson said immigration lanes were flowing as normal at Britain’s main airport. “There are enough personnel and the automatic doors are all working,” said the spokesman, who warned of this. The worst case scenarios you can expect are queues of up to two hours When the controls arrive.

health workers claim

This Tuesday and Wednesday, the health sector was also hit hard Nurses and ambulance workers strike. British trade union Unison announced Thursday that ambulance staff in England will strike again on January 11 and 23, following the strike they took last Wednesday to demand higher wages.

Called strikes next month will affect London and four other health regions in England for 24 hours each, the union said, criticizing the government’s “repeated refusal” to negotiate pay increases in the public health system. “This dispute will not end unless there is negotiationUnison Secretary-General Christina Macaña emphasized that this year’s increase was not enough to stop the exodus of workers from the public system.

Prime Minister’s government Rishi Sunak has so far refused to negotiate with ambulance workers and nurses Salary increases are higher than those recommended by the independent body dedicated to assessing the health pay scale, which in July mandated increases of between 4% and 4.75% in the sector.

As the railway workers claim

Last week, a lot of UK rail services have been suspended Through the new transport strike. Employees of the 14 train and network operator railway companies keep the pulse of the government, which began in June Ask for salary improvementshaving already stopped a large part of the railway network on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

General Secretary of the RMT Syndicate, Mick Lynchadvocates an improvement in the offer on the table for a wage increase, although he opens the door to a final solution by ensuring, after several months of contention, that An agreement can be reached. Union members rejected an offer of a minimum wage increase of 9 percent within two years and called strikes for the next 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.

They also joined the claim about 400 Menzies Luggage Carriers At London Heathrow Airport, the country’s main airport. At the same time, several bus routes in south and west London were affected last Friday by a strike called by workers at Abilio, one of the companies subcontracted by the British Metropolitan Council to run city buses.