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Border Force staff of England's major airports will be staging a walkout over pensions, pay and jobs over eight days during the festive period, British online newspaper The Independent reported.

Thousands of travellers to be affected by strike

The staff voted for a period of eight days of strikes which will span across two periods, from Dec. 23 to Dec. 26, and from Dec. 28 to Dec. 31.

The affected airports are Gatwick, Heathrow (terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5) , Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff. Workers will also strike at Newhaven port in East Sussex, according to The Guardian.

Thousands who plan to go on a holiday during the Christmas period will be affected by the strike. Flight delays, cancellations and diversions are also to be expected.

The British government has been training more than 500 military personnel to take over striking Border Force officers at ports and airports, according to another report by The Guardian.

The Independent also reported that busier airports with limited space, such as Heathrow, might hold passengers on planes as a result of long queues.

Travellers would already be facing major rail disruptions during the same period, Reuters reported.

More than 40,000 railway workers are expected to walk out across various dates till January 2023, from Dec. 13, 2022, onwards.

Why are they striking?

In November 2022, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS), which is the sixth largest trade union in the UK, announced that the approximately 100,000 civil servants who voted to strike did so as they wanted better pay and working conditions, according to a report by the BBC.

Workers are walking out in a push for a 10 per cent pay rise, pensions, job security, as well as no cut in redundancy pay.

The General Secretary of PCS, Mark Serwotka, said if the government fails to listen to the workers, they have "no option than to launch a prolonged programme of industrial action reaching into every corner of public life".

He claims that some PCS union members are living off food banks and are unable to afford heating in winter.

Serwotka, who has also held meetings with ministers, said, “They keep saying their door is open, but... there’s nothing behind it.” The ministers have apparently refused to raise their pay by 10 per cent. A  two per cent raise was granted earlier this year, but workers say this was not enough to cover the inflationary surge.

The call for industrial action is also a response to the government’s decision in August 2022 to cut civil servants' redundancy pay by a projected figure of 25.9 per cent, the BBC reported.

What to take note of if you are travelling

According to The Guardian, the Home Office has said that immigration and passport checks are expected to take longer during peak hours. Travellers are also advised to check their flight status with the relevant airline during the eight strike days.

The BBC also noted that the strikes will have greater impact on returning travellers to England rather than those departing, and that the duration of delays is dependent on how fast the Home Office can deal with manpower shortages.

Airlines are expected to offer mandatory rebooking or refunds for cancelled flights. Passengers should be prepared for severe disruptions in their travel plans and take into account ongoing strike action affecting other modes of transport.

Top image via Getty Images/Jack Taylor