Civil servants to man UK borders

Civil servants from across the British government are being drafted in to work as border staff during next week's public sector strike, it was announced Thursday.The civil servants have been approached by the UK Border Agency and asked to man facilities at ports and airports when immigration officials strike on Wednesday over their pensions, the Agency confirmed.Immigration staff working overseas have also been asked if they are willing to return to the UK to help out on the day of industrial action.Staff working in embassies and high commissions in India, South Africa, and Russia have been contacted about returning to Britain to cover for their absent colleagues.More than two million workers - including as many as 18,000 immigration officials -are expected to strike in the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest since the 1979 Winter of Discontent, raising the potential for long queues at passport control.A UK Border Agency spokesman said, "The security of the UK border remains our top priority and we explore all options to ensure we minimise any disruption caused by planned union action." The spokesman stressed that all staff would be given "the necessary level of training" needed for the tasks they are given.Downing Street confirmed that contingency plans were under way to limit the impact of the strike, but declined to discuss details.Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said, "We are considering our contingency plans, but we are not providing any details of those."The public will expect us, as the government, to do what we can to mitigate the effects of the strikes."If a large-scale strike goes ahead next week, that will have an impact on people and families across the country. If schools are shut, that will mean a lot of people who have to stay at home to look after their kids."Strikes are not costless. They have an impact and we have to do what we can to mitigate that." Cameron yesterday called for firms to allow parents to take their children to work during next week's strike if the walkout by teachers meant they could not go to school.Meanwhile, a new report predicted workers planning to join next week's strike would quickly lose public sympathy if the industrial action caused disruption.A survey of 2,000 adults by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found "limited support" for strike action that affected public services.Around seven out of 10 of the employees questioned by CIPD said the strikers will lose sympathy if the public is disrupted, slightly fewer than a year ago.About four out of five workers in private firms agreed with the statement, compared with just over half of those employed in the public sector.There was a slight drop in support for public spending cuts, down from 64 percent last year to 59 percent now, while almost two out of five said workers had to do what was necessary to protect their jobs.The number of people wanting strikes in essential services to be banned fell from 37 percent to 32 percent in this year's survey, published ahead of the planned strike on November 30.