Government considering court action over Olympic border staff strike

The London government is now considering court action over a planned strike by the border staff...

The London government is now considering court action over a planned strike by the border staff working for the London Olympics. This was announced this week by Home Office minister Lord Henley, who said that they were examining the legality of the walkout, which some members of the Public and Commercial services union are planning. He dubbed the strike, which the union called for on the eve of the Olympic games, as ‘opportunist and wholly unjustified’. 

According to him, only 12 per cent of the union’s members were in favour of the strike, which is sparked by a pay row. If they are able to prove that the strike is illegal, they will ‘take the appropriate remedies in the courts’, Henley said. 

He also added: “The Home Secretary has written to the PCS to express her concern and to make it clear that Her Majesty’s Government is totally opposed to the strike.”

Tory Baroness Fookes also spoke up about the issue: “Is there any responsible person in this country who supports this squalid little exercise which threatens the good name of this country?”

Meanwhile, the military police, Whitehall officials, and retired border staff are on standby to help keep the games in order in case the strike pushes through.