Border Force workers to stage strike in pay dispute

Border Force workers will stage a fresh strike on Friday as part of the increasingly bitter dispute over pay, jobs, pensions and conditions in the civil service.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) in Dover and French ports including Calais will walk out from tomorrow and over the weekend.

The union claimed inexperienced staff were being brought in to cover for striking Border Force workers.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Ministers say their priority is security – it obviously isn’t.

“They say they have no money to give our hard-working members a fair pay rise, but then find money to pay non-striking workers a healthy bonus, to pay for their transport across the country and to pay for four nights’ hotel accommodation.

“If ministers were serious about security, they would resolve this dispute immediately by putting money on the table to ensure fully-trained, experienced professionals are guarding our borders.”