UK’s Heathrow border officers plan four-day strike at end of August

London: Hundreds of border force staff at Britain’s biggest airport, Heathrow, will strike from Aug. 31 to Sep.3 – a peak travel period for hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers.

The four-day strike by 650 members of the PCS union will be followed by more than two weeks of industrial action, border force staff union PCS said in a statement on Friday.

The strike will coincide with the end of Britain’s school summer holidays when the airport to the west of London usually has one of its busiest periods.

PCS said staff would work to rule and refuse to work overtime until Sept. 22. They blamed the industrial action on a long-running dispute over changes to terms and conditions including new inflexible rosters.

“We know our strike action is likely to cause serious disruption to travellers using Heathrow at the end of the summer, but the strike can be avoided if the employer listens to the concerns of our members,” PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Britain’s interior ministry, which is responsible for border force officers, said the government was committed to continuing talks with the union to resolve the dispute.

If an agreement cannot be reached, the spokesperson said the government had plans in place to minimise disruption but urged passengers to check the latest advice from their airlines before they travel.

Heathrow, which at peak holiday times is used by about 250,000 passengers a day, said disruption had been avoided during past strikes.

“We have previously worked closely with border force to support their contingencies during strike periods, which have seen passengers continue to travel smoothly,” Heathrow said in a statement.