BRITS could face Christmas travel misery as UK Border Force officers are balloting to strike over pay.
The ISU union, which represents 3,500 Border Force, immigration enforcement and visa officers is threatening industrial action which could lead to lengthy queues at both airports and ports over the holiday period.
Its workers are demanding an eight per cent pay rise and have already rejected a three per cent increase from the Home Office.
The union has said it will not take any action that could jeopardise national security.
Effectively, this means checks will continue at UK borders but they could take longer, leading to huge queues as people try to get away for a Christmas break.
The move could also mean the call-up of police or military personnel to handle the Channel migrant crisis.
ISU general secretary Mark Gribbin said the union was considering a “longer period” of industrial action over the Christmas and New Year period – a time millions of Brits will want to travel abroad to see friends and family.
Mr Gribbin said the strikes would also target Channel migrant work and border ports, which are vital to the importation of Christmas goods and food supplies.
Tony Smith, a former Border Force director general, warned there was a risk national security could be compromised by the strike.
He told The Telegraph: "It is very worrying. If the Border Force cutter crews come out on strike, you could potentially stop meeting the small boats in the Channel.
"If you are not able to stop them at sea, they will be arriving on the beaches.”
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent, Matthew Scott, wants an urgent meeting with Cabinet Office ministers and officials in order to discuss contingency plans, including whether extra cops will be needed to help with the migrants.
He said: “Kent is a can-do police force but if we get 500 to 600 migrants turning up on a strike day, that will be problematic.”
As a key public service, more than 50 per cent of the members have to vote in the ballot, which is set to close on October 31.
To get a mandate to strike, more than 40 per cent of the membership also have to vote in favour of taking industrial action.
A previous indicative ballot showed that members are likely to back the action.
ISU members have only taken strike action twice before, in 1984 and then 2012 over pay and pensions.
Mr Gribbin said: “We are deeply saddened and frustrated that things have reached this point.
“We have offered the Home Office every opportunity to enter into meaningful dialogue. They have repeatedly refused to engage with our eight per cent pay claim.
“The Home Office position is intransigent, unreasonable and disrespectful. We have now exhausted all options short of industrial action to carry forward our pay campaign.”
He added: “There will be a focus on our border ports and on Channel migrant work. We are also considering a longer period of industrial action over the Christmas and New Year period.
“We are prepared also to look at more focussed action, directed either at refraining from specific workplace activities or perhaps shorter strike stoppages, where lengthier action would risk especially severe national security consequences.”
The move comes while members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents more than 150,00 civil servants including some Border Force and immigration officers, are also balloting its members.
The postal vote is due to close on November 7 and is due to be announced three days later.
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