Contingency plans for Olympic strike

Contingency plans are being drawn up to cope with a strike by thousands of airport immigration staff that is due to take place the eve of the Olympics. The 24-hour strike, which will take place on July 26, one of the airport's busiest days, will involve UK Border Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau staff. Politicians and members of the travel trade have branded the action “shameful” but Public and Commercial Services Union general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said staff were at breaking point. The strike is scheduled for all British ports and airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, on Thursday but it could start on Wednesday evening and run to Friday mid-morning, as shifts are not meant to cut across the strike day.  Hundreds of civil servants are set to man passport controls to keep queues down at airports.

Meanwhile Employment Relations Minister, Norman Lamb, warned unions not to disrupt the Olympics with industrial action last night after ministers hinted they could consider new anti-strike laws if the Games were undermined. Lamb told The Daily Telegraph that the government might be forced to consider reforms if trade unions caused chaos next week.  Senior Conservatives, including government figures, want new laws to ban strikes that do not have the support of at least 50 percent of a union’s members.