Public sector pensions: UK to face airport chaos as passport officials join strike

Add to My Stories Share Travellers hoping for a quick getaway should prepare for their holidays to be severely disrupted tomorrow after airport workers have become embroiled in the planned strike over public sector pension reforms.Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are due to desert their posts at air terminals, threatening massive queues at passport control.The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has warned people to steer clear of flying if possible to avoid severe disruptioncaused by immigration officials joining the strike which starts at 6pm this evening, ending at midnight tomorrow.Airport operator BAA which is responsible for Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, said: Certainly there will be queues at immigration, theres no doubt of that.

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Return to chaos? The UK Border Agency has warned against flying after its staff vowed to join the massive strike in airports such as Heathrow (file picture)

A BAA spokesman said the strike wouldaffect only arrivals, as checks for departing passengers were carried out by BAA staff, rather than the UKBA.Union leader Mark Serwotka has also warned there was a 'theoretical risk to security' as a result of the strikes.

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However, passengers transferring flights in the UK are expected to have problems, particularly non-EU flyers. It is expected that as many as 500,000 people due to fly today will be affected by the action.Passport checks for non-EU passengers take about two hours and that could be significantly increased while people arriving in the UK will face delays getting past controls.

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Speech: Prime Minister David Cameron makes his point at the Local Government Conference at the ICC in Birmingham yesterdayAnd the Civil Aviation Authority warned that people who miss connections as a result of delays could faceproblems. A spokesman said: 'Passengers have no rights when it comes tobeing stuck in a queue at immigration.'If there are knock-on delays and youmiss your connection it is outside the airline's control so you're still not protected,' according to the Daily TelegraphThe PCS unions general secretary Mark Serwotka said attempts to train UKBA managers to take the place of passport-checkers would not prevent delays, adding: It is likely that there will be severe disruptions and delays affecting both ports and airports.We expect longer queues and for managers to waive controls they would usually undertake. There is a theoretical risk to security in terms of smuggling and security of the borders, which could be weakened.

Negotiators: Len McCluskey of the Unite union and Mark Serwotka of PCS He also warned that delays would be particularly bad at Dover and Heathrow where membership of the union is 'particularly strong'.

The UKBA wrote yesterday to airlines at Heathrow warning that some passengers may experience delays at the border and those passengers who can travel on an alternative day may therefore wish to do so.Sue Kendal, a PCS shop steward, said:It takes an experienced immigration officer to be capable of detectinga forged passport. I think passport control will be extremely vulnerable.Jonathan Sedgwick, the acting head ofUKBA, said: We will do everything we can to minimise disruption and inconvenience to travellers.
'! But our priority will always be to ensure that the UK border remains secure.