PASSENGERS at Scottish airports could face travel disruption next week as immigration staff stage a strike in a dispute over public sector pensions.
The Immigration Services Union (ISU), which represents 4500 Border Agency staff, announced that its members will walk out on May 10, at ports and airports across the UK, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The union is in dispute with the UK Government over plans to increase the retirement age for public servants and link it to the state retirement age.
It said it believed managers would be used to cover for its members during the strike which may coincide with industrial action by civil servants, lecturers, health staff, Ministry of Defence employees and members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
A spokesman said: "The Government will run some kind of skeleton service. If the airlines advise people not to travel on that day things might be quiet."
Edinburgh airport plans to work with Border Agency bosses to minimise disruption.
A spokesman said: "We are working closely with UKBA management to understand what the impact will be and what contingencies they will be putting in place to ensure passengers' journeys aren't impacted."
A spokesman for Glasgow added that officials plan to meet with Border Agency staff in the next few days. He said: "We will be meeting with staff from UKBA in the coming days to discuss the planned strike action and to determine what impact, if any, it will have on passengers travelling through the airport."
Immigration minister Damian Green said: "This strike is completely unnecessary and we believe the public will find it unacceptable if unions push ahead. The security of the UK border is of the utmost importance and we will use tried and tested contingency plans to ensure we minimise any disruption."
Meanwhile, the Government plans to draft in an extra 80 staff to deal with long queues at Heathrow Airport in London.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, warned that drafting in staff from other areas of an overstretched agency will be like "putting a sticking plaster on a serious injury".
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