Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport are preparing to strike for three days, starting this Friday, in a dispute over shift patterns.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) confirmed that their members, numbering more than 500, who work on passport control at terminals 2-5 are taking action in protest against the new rosters being introduced. According to the union, over 250 staff could lose their jobs or be involuntarily reassigned to different roles due to these changes.
Remaining employees are said to face longer working hours, rules around swapping shifts, lack of transparency concerning annual leave requests, and an inability to adjust work schedules to accommodate caring responsibilities, the PCS claimed.
A recently launched petition aims to rally support for the affected workers. PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote urged trade unionists and the public to back the petition, stating: "We call on all trade unionists and the public to support this petition and tell Border Force management to scrap this unwelcome and unworkable roster that has already caused misery to our members."
"PCS has repeatedly called for more flexibility in the new roster but management has refused to listen. As long as management persists in ignoring our requests for improvements in the proposed rosters, the conflict will persist," she warned."
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “Border Force gave all officers on legacy terms and conditions the option to move to the new roster, take part in a voluntary exit scheme or redeploy to other parts of the organisation. The vast majority of officers have now made their choice and we are supporting a very small number of individuals to find alternative roles in the organisation”.
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