Review your plans. That’s the message from UK officials as thousands of airport and rail workers prepare to strike during the busy holiday travel season.
Set To Strike
Employees working for the UK Border Force are planning a strike from 23 to 26 December. A second strike is scheduled for December 28 to 31. Up to 3,000 airport workers plan to strike, severely affecting staffing issues within the airport and the movement of passports in and out of the UK. This means airports will have a reduced ability to process foreigners entering the UK.
There will be “undeniable and serious disruption” during this time, according to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman. It is urging passengers to “think carefully about their plans as they may be affected”.
Airports affected
The strikes will affect all major international airports in England, Wales and Scotland. This includes London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow. These airports together will see more than 10,000 flight arrivals during strike periods.
To give you an idea of how many people this affects, aviation officials expect a million passengers to travel through London Heathrow alone during that time. Another million people are expected at all other affected airports.
Railway strike
The union representing rail workers, the RMT, is also warning of strikes during the holiday travel season. Rail strikes will take place on December 13, 14, 16 and 17, then again from Christmas Eve until December 27. These strikes will force almost half of the country’s railways to close due to staff shortages.
Rail officials are asking residents and visitors to travel by rail only when necessary and to be prepared for additional delays on non-strike days as railroads work to return trains to where they need to be.
The Government’s reaction
To help ease staffing shortages, the government is bringing in soldiers to help throughout the airport, particularly with passport control. Officials at London Heathrow tell the BBC they aim not to cancel flights during strike periods and hope temporary staff will ease travel issues.
“Border Force has emergency measures in place to ensure other arriving passengers are cleared safely and as quickly as possible,” Heathrow officials said. “Passengers arriving on UK, EU, US, Canadian and some other passports will be able to use eGates as usual and their journeys should not be largely affected on strike days.”
EGates are a self-service border crossing option in the UK The machines scan your passport and confirm your identity through facial recognition.
Government officials are also continuing negotiations with the airport workers’ union, the Public and Commercial Services Union, as well as the railway union. Airport workers are demanding higher wages and job security, while the rail union is fighting for higher wages and changes to working conditions to improve safety.
