Strike action looms at Heathrow

Passengers at Heathrow could face longer queues as passport control staff prepare to strike over a ban on swapping shifts.

The Public and Commercial Services Union said passport control staff at Heathrow airport have voted for strike action over new ‘unworkable’ rosters being imposed. It said 96.4% of those who voted agreed to strike action on a 68% turnout.  

It said members were ‘deeply concerned’ that the new rosters will have an impact on those with caring responsibilities and disabilities who have relied on the flexibility in order to do their jobs effectively.  

The PCS union said local reps believe the changes had been planned for some time and the pandemic was being used as a pretext to force them through now.   

A Home Office spokesman said: These temporary changes involve Border Force officers working in bubbles to protect themselves and the public from coronavirus."

A spokesman for the union said strike dates will be announced in ‘due course’.

The planned strike action comes as Heathrow starts trialling a new rapid Covid test scheme that it hopes will test around 2,000 staff.

The airport is working with NHS Test & Trace on a Government-led staff testing pilot that will use rapid lateral flow tests to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at Heathrow.

The pilot scheme will run over four weeks initially and is aimed at understanding how routine testing might be used to help identify asymptomatic cases of Covid in the airport’s workforce.

The devices will provide test results in 20 minutes, which Heathrow said will make it quicker and easier to identify and isolate positive cases.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: "We’re pleased to be working with the Government on this pilot testing scheme which goes even further to protect our colleagues and the other key workers who are keeping the country moving through this crisis. This pilot will support us as we work to keep the UK’s biggest port running smoothly, helping to facilitate essential journeys and the movement of cargo."

Baroness Dido Harding, Interim Executive Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: "With over 62 million tests processed and more than 7 million people contact-traced since its creation nine months ago, NHS Test and Trace plays a vital role in the fight against COVID-19.

"This is a national effort and a partnership of public and private sectors. Around one in three people with COVID-19 don’t display symptoms, meaning you can infect others unknowingly. This pilot is one of many which will inform our understanding of how rapid asymptomatic testing can be operationalised in the real world; to protect those at high risk, find the virus and help us go back to as normal a way of life as possible." 

By Louise Longman, Contributing Editor (UK)