Civil servants strike (From Gazette)

Civil servants strike

5:44pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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Civil servants manned picket lines to protest at plans to cut their redundancy pay.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union began a 48-hour walkout yesterday in protest at Government proposals to cut redundancy pay-outs and save £500m.

The government says the current scheme is overgenerous, but the union fears the proposals could lead to tens of thousands of job losses on the cheap.

Those on strike include workers at job centres, benefit offices, the Border Agency and courts.

Extra police were drafted into Stansted Airport to manage queues of passengers after Border Agency staff went out on strike.

Lin Horner, chief executive for the UK Border Agency, said security would not be compromised.

"We expect that people travelling into the country may experience some delays at border control, but we will work hard to keep these to a minimum and hope that passengers will welcome the commitment of those staff who will be working despite the strike action to ensure they are seen as quickly as possible."

Members of Essex Magistrates Courts were also out on strike.