Passengers arriving in the UK from the Balearics and elsewhere in Spain from today are being warned to expect delays as Border Force workers begin eight days of strikes.
And the strikes by Border Force staff at UK airports could go on for months unless the government enters talks over pay, the head of the PCS union has said.
Mark Serwotka said the union had a “mandate” for walkouts up until May.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “sad” about disruption caused by strikes, but said he had acted “fairly and reasonably” over public sector pay.
Thousands of travellers arriving in the UK have been told to expect delays over Christmas as border staff walk out.
More than 1,000 employees who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will walk out, affecting passport control desks at six of the country’s busiest airports.
The industrial action will cause disruption from today until Boxing Day, before workers stage another round of walkouts from 28 until New Year’s Eve.
And in Spain, the airline Air Nostrum has cancelled around 20% of those flights planned today, due to the strike called by the pilots’ union Sepla.
Travellers affected by these cancellations may opt for reimbursement of tickets or relocation on alternative flights, the Valencian airline said in a statement.
The company will publish at the end of this week the flights cancelled for next week’s stoppages, which will take place on 26, 27, 29 and 30 December.
Two new days of strike action have also been called for 2 and 3 January.
The company’s management considers this strike call “totally unjustified”, which it describes as “particularly disproportionate” because the upcoming holidays are “the Christmas of reunion for many families”.
The company recalls that in the negotiation process with the pilots ‘it has already offered a wage increase for the next three years of 10 % for commanders and 13 % for second pilots’, and stresses that ‘this increase could be even higher depending on the results by objectives which are also being negotiated’.
“The proposal is above the average increase of the agreements in Spain and what other companies in the sector with better results are negotiating with their pilots”, Air Nostrum points out.
The application of the minimum services decreed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will allow 79% of the flights scheduled for the first two days of the strikes to operate.
Customers affected by these cancellations may opt for reimbursement of their tickets or relocation to alternative flights or dates, depending on availability. In addition, fares have been made more flexible so that passengers on flights that are not cancelled can change dates if they prefer.
The airline regrets the inconvenience caused and reports that almost all passengers have already been contacted.
In addition, it appeals again to the “responsibility” of Sepla to “stop this strike, as the company still has to pay back 250 million ICO credits as well as the loan made by SEPI from the FASEE funds (Solvency Support Fund for Strategic Companies)”.