London 2012 Olympics: Strike by UK border staff aimed at ‘sabotaging’ the Games is called off

July 25th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Immigration and customs staff were to begin strike on eve of Olympics on Thursday
Home office agrees to create 800 more border jobs and 300 in passport offices
Recruitment adverts were placed for the new jobs at Heathrow,
Gatwick and Luton airports, so the strike was scrapped, the union said
The Government was due to take on the union in the High Court at midday today to get the strike stopped

By
Martin Robinson and James Chapman

PUBLISHED:

05:24 EST, 25 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

09:47 EST, 25 July 2012

A strike by 25,000 British border staff aimed at ‘inflicting maximum pain’ on the eve of the Olympics has been called off.

The 24 hours of industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) at UK airports was due to take place tomorrow.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka says 800 new jobs will be created in the UK Border Agency and 300 in passport offices as part of a last minute deal.

But Immigration Minister Damian Green has denied these new jobs exist, suggesting that the union is lying about why they called off tomorrow’s strike.

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The Government could take court action to stop immigration and customs staff from striking on Thursday

Axed: PCS action that would have led to huge queues at airport immigration tomorrow has been cancelled

It came as today, with the eyes of the world on
Britain, there was mounting anger over cynical attempts
by union leaders to bring chaos to our borders and transport networks.

From Friday, workers on London
Underground, some of whom have already secured Olympic-linked bonuses of
up to £1,000, will start a work-to-rule regime.

Similarly, staff on key suburban rail routes to Games sites in London and Weymouth will also begin disruptive action.

And defending PCS’ hugely unpopular
strike threat at airports, which Home Secretary Theresa May called ‘sabotage’, Mr Serwotka said: ‘If we hadn’t taken the stance we’d taken, there wouldn’t have
been any media scrutiny on the Home Office.’

He added the new jobs proved the Government made huge mistakes in shedding thousands of jobs in recent years.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka claims hisstrike plans will not affect the Olympics

Deal: PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka claims the deal shows the Government admits to making too many cuts to staff

The move, announced to the union during talks at the Home Office yesterday, represented ‘major progress’ in the dispute, he said.

Recruitment adverts were placed on websites this morning for the new jobs in areas including Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports.

But the threat of strikes is not gone completely, as Mr Serwotka said the dispute had not
been resolved and there were a number of outstanding issues, including
pay and compulsory redundancies.

The PCS also said its members had been subjected to ‘disgraceful’ attacks from Government ministers since the announcement last week of the strike.

‘These new jobs are a welcome step towards a recognition that the Home Office has been cracking under the strain of massive job losses, and that the answer is not more cuts, but more investment,’ Mr Serwotka said:

‘We are pleased that with these new posts and the progress made in talks we are able to avert a strike ahead of the Olympics.’

But Immigration Minister Damian Green has offered a different version of events.

‘No concessions have been made by the government. We don’t recognise the figure of 800 new jobs at Border Force quoted by Mr Serwotka and no new jobs have been advertised since the union threatened to strike.’

At midday today the Government were taking PCS to the High Court seeking an injunction to stop the strike.

The union said the Government’s legal challenge was based on a claim that 12 staff in Paris and Brussels were being involved in the dispute when they were not covered by the issues.

Home Secretary Theresa May even wrote an open letter to border staff urging them to defy the walkout and ‘do what their country needs’ before the deal was done.

A spokesman for airports operator BAA said: ‘We welcome the decision by the PCS to call off tomorrow’s strike.

‘So far passengers arriving for the Olympics have had a smooth journey through Heathrow and it is great news that those arriving tomorrow can also expect a warm welcome to London and the Games.’

Labour MP John McDonnell, who chairs the PCS parliamentary group, said: ‘The union has secured a tremendous breakthrough to protect its members’ jobs. This could have been sorted weeks ago. There was no need for this heavy-handed brinkmanship.’

Fury: Home Secretary Theresa May has written an open letter to border staff urging them to defy the walkout and 'do what their country needs'

Fury: Home Secretary Theresa May wrote an open letter to border staff urging them to defy the walkout and ‘do what their country needs’ before the deal was done

As thousands of athletes and officials poured into the country on the eve of the Olympics, immigration and customs staff were tomorrow due to walk out at Heathrow Airport.

The moves come as a shocking new analysis reveals the number of working days lost to strikes is escalating dramatically.

In 2011, 1,388,000 days were casualties of industrial action – a three-fold increase on the 456,000 in 2009, Labour’s last full year in power. It was the highest figure since 1990, when 1,903,000 days were lost.

This morning, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme that he was ‘very confident’ in contingency plans for Thursday’s planned strike by border agency staff.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab fears strikes are being called as a result of tiny ballot turnouts

‘We need 550 people to maintain a full immigration desk policy at Heathrow which means we can get people through in the shortest possible time and we have 584 shifts now confirmed for Thursday, despite the strike’, he told interviewer James Naughtie.

He said fears Heathrow would grind to a halt because of the extra passengers attending the Games had so far failed to materialise, and he commended the situation at the hub airport as ‘a tremendous success’.

On the planned strike, he said: ‘For an immigration officer – and I’m sure the vast majority of immigration officers feel this way – Thursday is one of the biggest days in their professional career.

‘It is the day when the eyes of the world will be upon them and the welcome we are giving to the rest of the world.

“The vast majority of them will want to do a really good job and show what they are capable of.’

Last night Conservative MP Dominic Raab said there was growing concern that public sector workers were being called out on the basis of tiny turnouts in strike votes.

He said there was a clear case to require unions to secure the support of 50 per cent of balloted members to make industrial action legal.

Ministers are now considering taking court action over Public and Commercial Services Union leader Mark Serwotka’s decision to call a 24-hour strike by Heathrow staff.

Seven out of eight of members of the PCS did not vote to take industrial action in a ballot of Home Office staff.

Mr Hunt told Today that Mr Serwotka ‘must be losing confidence that what he’s doing represents the majority of his members’ after the union leader turned down the BBC’s invitation to appear on this morning’s programme.

The possibility of an injunction to block the strike came following a letter to the union from Home Secretary Theresa May, describing the planned walkout as ‘opportunist and wholly unjustified’.

Work-to-rule: London Underground workers have been instructed to do no more than the minimum required in their contracts from Friday

And Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has told colleagues other senior figures in the union movement had privately expressed dismay that the PCS was targeting the Olympic transport rush.

Mr Raab said: ‘Mark Serwotka’s vindictive action is the latest in a wave of reckless strikes, led by a few militants who want to sabotage the economy and humiliate the nation.

‘Too often it is those union bosses shouting the loudest who have the least support from their own members. It is welcome that ministers are looking at reform. But, if the government is going to pick this fight, it must win it decisively.’

The strike action was also condemned by Mr Hunt, who said: ‘Any decision to strike during the Olympics is highly regrettable.’

He insisted contingency plans were in place, but added: ‘There will be slightly longer queues than in recent weeks.’

South West Trains staff, taking visitors to Olympics events in Weymouth, will also work-to-rule during the Games

Yesterday union leaders announced London Underground employees are to stage a ‘work-to-rule’ from Friday in an Olympics-related dispute.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which represents thousands of Tube staff, said it was in dispute over implementing an Olympics pay deal as well as the use of casual workers.

The union has already secured Olympics bonuses of up to £1,000 for drivers, with other members of staff in line for up to £850 for the ‘massive additional pressures’ they will face during the Games.

The RMT’s South West Trains members will refuse to do any overtime or work on a ‘rest day’ from Friday until August 12.

South West Trains operates many of
the key train lines out of London’s Waterloo, such as trains to Eton for
the rowing, Weymouth for the sailing and Wimbledon for the tennis.

Members of Bob Crow's Rail, Maritime and Transport union will refuse to work on rest days during the Games

Members of Bob Crow’s Rail, Maritime and Transport union will refuse to work on rest days during the Games

Workers
insist they are furious they are not getting a bonus for working during
the Games. South West Trains, owned by Stagecoach, dismissed this
claim, insisting workers were given an inflation-busting pay rise of
4.75 per cent just a few months ago.

PCS officials were due to hold talks with senior Home Office officials last night over planned border strike. Military police, Whitehall officials and retired border staff are on standby to prevent chaos at the borders if the strike goes ahead.

The PCS said: ‘The problem over the past 18 months has been that there has not been the political will in the Home Office to reach a solution.’

RMT secretary Bob Crow said: ‘While the likes of Jeremy Hunt, and the rest of the Government, are sitting in the well-padded VIP seats in the Olympics Stadium as a nice little bonus, our cleaners on the Tube and DLR, who work round the clock in appalling conditions, are being treated like dirt.’

Howard Collins, London Underground’s chief operating officer, said: ‘We reached agreement with all four unions at the end of May on how we can fairly reward our staff and operate services during the London 2012 Games.

The fact that four-fifths of those balloted chose not to vote or voted no to industrial action shows that we have the support of our staff.’

VIDEO: Mark Serwotka from the Public and Commercial Services union on the deal…