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  1. #1
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    Border staff threaten Olympic chaos

    Imagine the chaos.
    Border staff threaten strike chaos before Olympics
    Thousands of immigration staff at airports and ports could walk out next week, causing chaos before the Olympics.

    Border controls could be hit by strike action before Olympics
    By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor8:29PM BST 18 Jul 2012350 Comments
    Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) voted yesterday in favour of strike action in a row over jobs and pay.
    Leaders will decide today what action to take and it could mean a strike as hundreds of thousands of people arrive for the start of the 2012 Games.
    The union claims to represent more than half of the UK Border Force, which staffs crucial posts such as passport control and customs at the country’s air and sea ports.
    The move was condemned last night as “vindictive” and “unpatriotic” after it emerged that only one in 10 PCS members had actually voted in favour of strike action.
    Damian Green, the immigration minister, said: “Any action that disrupts the Olympics will be completely unacceptable and the public will not support it.”
    The PCS said 57 per cent of its members had backed strike action after 16,000 Home Office staff were balloted and three quarters had voted for other forms of industrial action.
    Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, and other leaders will meet today to decide the next move but a spokesman warned that they have to give only seven days notice for a strike.
    However, only 20 per cent of those balloted responded, meaning that around one in ten effectively backed strike action.
    Dominic Raab, the Tory MP, said: “For Mark Serwotka to threaten to target the Olympics when just 11 per cent of his own members back a strike, is self-indulgent, reckless and unpatriotic.
    “There is no credible basis for this vindictive strike action — a militant minority led by a union head-banger should not be allowed to wreck the Games.”
    Mr Green added: “I call on the union to call off this irresponsible proposed strike. Only about one in 10 PCS members voted for strike action. The union leadership has no authority to call disruptive strikes on that basis and should think again.”
    The PCS claims to represent around 5,000 of the 7,300 Border Force staff although those figures have been disputed. The Immigration Service Union claims to represent around 4,000 Border Force staff.
    The PCS is in dispute with the Home Office on plans to cut 8,500 jobs, the threat of compulsory redundancies in the passport office in Newport, South Wales, a one per cent pay rise cap following a two-year wage freeze, privatisation of services, and alleged victimisation of union representatives.
    Mr Serwotka said: “Ministers have known about these issues for a very long time but have chosen not to act. We believe they have acted recklessly and irresponsibly in cutting so many jobs and, in the case of the UK Border Agency, they have simply tried to paper over the cracks by deploying severely under-trained staff at our borders.”
    Border staff threaten strike chaos before Olympics - Telegraph

  2. #2
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    the dogcatcher's Avatar
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    Didn't the tube drivers get away with the same trick?

  3. #3
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    This olympics is doomed; it's going to be a fucking disaster. Why London was ever selected is a mystery to me. My brother took a group of military officers in a post-graduate course to Europe last month. They had to stop for a day in London. Over three hours to clear immigration. Good fucking luck when the olympic hordes descend - even without the probable strikes, it will be a nightmare. Hope they have good TV coverage in the airport.

  4. #4
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    reading this from CNN as I eat my sandwich,
    London (CNN) -- British lawmakers tore into the chief executive of the security contractor that will be unable to deliver enough guards for the Olympic Games, forcing Nick Buckles to agree Tuesday that the fiasco is "a humiliating shambles."
    Buckles, the chief executive of G4S, said the company should not have agreed to provide 10,400 guards for the Olympics, six days after the security giant admitted it could not do so.
    "We regret signing the contract," Buckles said under pressure from lawmakers.
    The company's failure forced the government to call in 3,500 military personnel to help, and will also require extra police to be deployed.
    Olympic-level security
    G4S has a £284 million ($444 million) government contract to provide security staff for the Olympic Games, but only 4,000 guards are trained and ready.
    Buckles said there was a company "expectation" that 7,000 will be ready by the time the Games begin on July 27, although he called the exact number "a moving target."
    London orchestra plays train sounds
    Getting to the Games
    London's transport ahead of the Games
    'The busiest airspace in the world'
    Lawmakers appeared incredulous at the chief executive's assertion that G4S should still claim a £57 million ($89 million) management fee as part of the contract.
    "Why?" demanded Keith Vaz, the chairman of Parliament's Home Affairs Committee. "You haven't managed."
    G4S may lose $77m over guard shortfall
    Hammered by Vaz for saying he was "disappointed" about the failure, Buckles first said he was "deeply disappointed" and then that he was "sorry."
    Labour lawmaker David Winnick then laid into Buckles, insisting several times that the snafu was "a humiliating shambles."
    Buckles finally said he could not disagree.
    He repeatedly tried to evade a question from lawmaker James Clappison about whether he was confident about the number of guards who would show up on the first day of the Games.
    Guarding the games
    Vaz intervened again, demanding: "You can't give Mr. Clappison the assurance he seeks?"
    "I cannot," Buckles said.
    The company will reimburse police forces that have to provide officers to cover for G4S shortfalls, and will "consider" paying bonuses to military and police who are called in to help, he said.
    Buckles said he was surprised when he got his first indication on July 3 that his company would be unable to fulfill its contract.
    The information came "completely out of the blue," he said.
    He knew for certain on July 11 the company could not fulfill its contract, he told the committee, which is looking into security for the Games.
    The company accepts "100% responsibility" for its failure, and is "extremely grateful to the military and police for helping us out," Buckles said.
    Athletes fret on lost bus as Olympic arrivals begins
    Closing the session, Vaz said lawmakers considered the company's performance "unacceptable, incompetent and amateurish" and implicitly suggested Buckles should resign after the Games.
    The G4S recruits are supposed to perform tasks including venue perimeter security, such as manning X-ray machines, searching people, searching vehicles and operating closed-circuit television systems, G4S said Sunday.
    The Home Office said Monday that the contractor was suffering from a software problem, which meant it could not guarantee who would turn up where and whether guards had the right training.
    G4S has not responded to CNN questions about the accusation.
    Share your Olympics sights and sounds
    Britain's Department for Transport said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was sending a small number of Transportation Security Administration officials to Britain for the Games.
    The TSA staff "will be based at designated UK airports to act as an onsite liaison for the TSA," the British government department said in a statement.
    "The TSA staff will not be conducting security screening operations or security inspections," the statement said.
    The Home Office said Monday that the extra immigration staff it had deployed at borders was properly trained, rejecting media reports to the contrary.
    Immigration desks have extra staffers, Heathrow said Monday, amid fears of long lines to get into the country.
    Retired border officials and retired police officers are among those being brought in to supplement immigration staff, the Home Office said.
    Athlete arrivals are expected to peak July 24, with more than 1,200 competitors due on that day.
    See how Heathrow is preparing for the London Olympics
    Heathrow airport expected a record number of passengers on Monday as athletes began to flood into the city for the Olympic Games.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat klong toey's Avatar
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    Border staff threaten Olympic chaos,deport them all most of them are foreigners anyway.

  6. #6
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    When is someone in this pathetic Government going to grow a set of balls and tell these wankers they either work or get sacked ? NOBODY should be allowed to hold the country to ransom for the sake of their own greed. The last time we had a politician with the balls big enough to take on these union dinosaurs she was a woman !
    Says a lot about the current lot of wankers in office. The bus drivers were the last to threaten to strike. They said they deserved more money because it was going to be busier during the games. Can anyone one tell me why it is harder to drive a full bus than it is to drive an empty fucker ? They are paid to drive a bus. Either do it or fuck off should be the response.
    How about then using their argument against them ?
    If they want more money for driving a full bus then it stands to reason they should get less for an empty bus ? Night buses are generally empty so slash the wages for driving a night bus then ? YES ? No I didn't think so. It only works the one way with these greedy cunts !
    Ronald Regan had the right idea. Every year the air traffic control wankers used to go on strike and hold the country to ransom for more money, less hours, better health care etc. He secretly trained up a load of new air traffic controllers and when as per usual threatened to bring the country to a standstill he told them that if they decided to strike they would be fired.
    They called his bluff thinking he couldn't do what he had said. HE DID !
    He simply replaced all those that went on strike with newly trained controllers.
    We need someone like that today in the UK !
    Don't hold your breath though as they are all spineless and gutless !

    I have just read as well that there are now twice as many troops guarding the games as are fighting the fucking Taliban FFS what is going on ?
    The most expensive security operation ever in the UK and all paid for by the stupid British tax payer

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