Public unions have the London games over a barrel and it's the government's fault
Skift Take
David Cameron's government has given the unions plenty of reasons to play hardball, unwisely and cynically hoping he could use the Olympics to force through measures they despise. Now it's backfiring on him.
Britain’s Border Agency union said talks with the government on pay and jobs aren’t planned until next week, making it unlikely that a strike at London’s Heathrow airport on the eve of the Olympic Games will be called off.
Previous talks failed because Home Office officials were bound by policy commitments, and the government needs to appoint negotiators with authority to make changes, said Richard Simcox, a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which says it represents two-thirds of Heathrow immigration officers.
“We don’t want to strike, and we recognize the government are not going to solve everything overnight, but they’re not willing to make any concessions on any points,” Simcox said in a telephone interview. “We’d like to meet with them, and at the moment that meeting is in the diary for the end of next week.”
Home Office staff will walk out on July 26, the day before the opening ceremony for the games, according to the PCS, which is also seeking to halt a policy of privatizing services. Home Secretary Theresa May said yesterday that the timing of the strike is “sh
