Industrial actions threaten London Olympic Games

OLYMPIC visitors to London could face long airport queues as border staff, and other Home Office personnel, vote to go on strike in a dispute over pay and cuts.The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents Home Office staff among others, voted to strike for 24 hours next Thursday - the day before the official opening of the Olympic Games on July 27.Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected in London every day while the Games are under way.East Midlands train drivers also plan to take industrial action over the Olympics, after a vote by Aslef union.The PCS said members would take other forms of industrial action on key dates over the games. Staff involved work for the UK Border Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau.The PCS is in an ongoing dispute with the Home Office over pay and job cuts and said on Wednesday that its members backed its motion to hold a strike. But the government said the 20 per cent turnout at the ballot box invalidated the union's decision, and that it is unlikely to have public support.Of those who voted, 57 per cent backed a strike, and 75 per cent backed other forms of industrial action.Staff shortages at airport passport desks in and around London have already been blamed for long queues at immigration, with some passengers having to wait for several hours.
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