English Channel patrol crews vote to take strike action
Union members who work on patrol boats have voted for strike action by 96%
Border Force workers who patrol UK waters have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over frozen allowances as well as terms and conditions.
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Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members who work on patrol boats have voted for strike action by 96 per cent on a turnout of 80 per cent.
Their duties include searching for and identifying vessels at sea engaged in smuggling or small boats crossings in the English Channel.
Workers are furious after being forced to wait more than six years for the result of a payment review into allowances for their roles.
It comes just one day after the UK’s border security chief tasked with tackling Channel crossings has said the number of arrivals by small boat to the UK is “frustrating” but that work to stop the smuggling route was “always going to take time”.
Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt rejected the idea that it was a “fool’s errand” to go after smuggling gangs and told MPs he was convinced the plan in place “will deliver”.
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More than 36,000 people have made the dangerous journey across the Channel so far this year, around a third higher than the same point in 2024.
Earlier this year, the French agreed to review its maritime rules, which would allow officers to intervene in the water, in response to smugglers using “taxi boats” where migrants will get onto a boat already out at sea rather than boarding on the beaches.
Border Force management has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines to present final proposals to the union, the latest being the week commencing October 6.
Despite assurances that payments will be backdated to April 1, 2025 PCS believes it may be months before they are received by staff.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our Border Force Maritime members are sick to the teeth of being disrespected and undervalued by management.
“If it takes a highly disruptive strike to shake the employer into its senses, then they are willing to walk out from their patrols to achieve their aims.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously promised to “smash the gangs” behind illegal immigration and has called on anyone who can work to do so.
The government announced in August that it will give an extra £100 million in funding to support the pilot migrant returns deal between Britain and France.
The cash will pay for up to 300 National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and tech to fulfil Labour's manifesto promise to "smash" smuggling gangs.