• If government doesn’t negotiate pay, Border Force boycott could extend months.
• 1,000 employees are striking at UK airports and ports over Christmas holiday.
• Baggage workers accepted a better pay offer, delaying a 72-hour protest.

Border Force worker strikes at UK airports could last for months if the government does not engage in pay negotiations, according to the chairman of the PCS union.

Up until May, according to Mark Serwotka, the union had a “mandate” for walkouts.

Although the inconvenience created by strikes made Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “sad,” he claimed to have done “fairly and properly” about public sector salaries.

Although thousands of travelers arriving in the UK had been warned to expect delays, there have only been minor disruptions so far.

However, when the Christmas vacation picked up, there was “serious congestion” on the roads in several regions, according to the AA.

According to the report, huge traffic bottlenecks were caused by accidents on the M1 and the partial closure of the M25 due to flooding, as well as rail strikes, which are scheduled to resume on Saturday.

A walkout by 1,000 Border Force employees, many of whom check passports, is being held from Friday through December 26 and from December 28 to December 31.

At Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Glasgow airports as well as the Port of Newhaven, employees are on strike. To cover strikers, military personnel and government employees have been called in.

Ben Wallace, the defense secretary, has stated that members of the UK armed forces who cover striking public sector employees over the Christmas holiday will get additional bonus payments for each day they work.

On Friday afternoon, a representative for Heathrow Airport stated that operations were “smooth” and the airport was operating normally.

“The Immigration halls are free flowing with Border Force and the military contingency providing a good level of service for arriving passengers,” the spokesperson added. There have been no reports of delays in the other airports either.

Each stand-in employee would receive a £20 bonus from the Ministry of Defense for each day they were in training or on duty throughout the holiday season.

Mr. Serwotka said that any disruption for passengers was an “unfortunate reality” of the strikes but said any anger should be directed at the government, who he claimed had “ignored” the union.

He said the union was raising cash for a strike fund which meant members could “sustain” strikes “for months and after Christmas“.

“Not only could it be six months, I think in January what you will see is a huge escalation of this action in the civil service and across the rest of the economy unless the government get around the negotiating table,” he said.

Mr. Sunak said: “I want to make sure we reduce inflation, part of that is being responsible when it comes to setting public sector pay.

“In the long term it’s the right thing for the whole country that we beat inflation.”

Separately, the Unite union’s members agreed to accept an improved salary offer, postponing a planned 72-hour walkout by Menzies baggage handlers at Heathrow that was scheduled to begin on December 29.

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