1,000 Border Force officers at major ports to strike during half-term

Members of the PCS union in Dover, Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk will strike on February 17, 18, 19 and 20
Border Force officers in major ports are to strike during half-term (PA)
PA Archive
Alan Jones1 February 2023

Border Force officers in major ports including in France are to strike during half-term in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions, it has been announced.

Around 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) in Dover, Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk will strike on February 17, 18, 19 and 20.

The announcement comes ahead of a walkout on Wednesday by 100,000 civil servants in 123 government departments in what is the biggest civil service strike in a decade.

Wednesday’s strike about pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security affects, among others, those working for the Border Force at airports and ports, those working as driving examiners and at National Highways, museums and art galleries, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Our members perform vital roles. We therefore expect our strikes tomorrow will have a massive impact on public services.

“And the strikes we have announced today in the Border Force will impact on people returning from their holidays during the half-term period.

“For while the Government brought untrained military personnel in to replace our highly skilled and experienced officers in airports over Christmas, they won’t be able to do that in France.

“The blame for these strikes lies firmly at the feet of ministers who are refusing to put any money on the table.

“They say they will talk about money for next year, but our members – who have been offered just a 2% rise at a time when inflation is around 10% – cannot afford to wait for next year.

“Many civil servants are already having to choose between heating and eating, having to claim the benefits they themselves have to administer and they are having to go to food banks.

“Ministers should be ashamed at how they treat their own workforce and until they come to the table with money for our members, we will continue to call strike action, with tomorrow’s strike being a key part of what will be a continuous, sustained, targeted campaign.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in