Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union on a Gatwick picket line as border force staff checking passports walked out adding to the delays of fraught travellers.
(Picture: PA)Passengers attempting to leave Gatwick Airport have been facing scenes of ‘pandemonium’ as train services continue to be slashed as strikes over the festive season continues to leave travel plans in tatters.
A 48-hour walkout by Rail and Maritime union members was due to end at 6am on Tuesday but massive delays and cancellations continued with pressure piling up on other transport at the airport.
There were huge queues outside the airport for taxis and National Express coaches as strikes left thousands of people stranded with Gatwick Express services suspended to January 2.
Hundreds of trains usually run on December 26, but the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strike caused chaos into Tuesday. Meanwhile passengers were told to prepare for “significantly disrupted” travel into the new year amid the wave of industrial unrest sweeping across the country.
👷♀️👷 No Gatwick Express services will run while @NetworkRailSE carry out works at London Victoria from the 25 December 2022 to 2 January 2023.
— Gatwick Express (@GatwickExpress) December 27, 2022
ℹ Full details on alternative journey options 👇https://t.co/VZVsxZxduZ pic.twitter.com/9skwg8ELVR
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at CrossCountry staged a 24-hour strike from 9pm on Boxing Day as part of a long-running campaign for a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which addresses the rising cost of living.
The 48-hour walkout called by the RMT in a separate dispute over jobs, pay and conditions which began on Christmas Eve ended at 6am is still having an impact.
One twitter user wrote: “The journey continues. Utter pandemonium at Gatwick, so I’m taking the bus to Caterham and then hopefully home from there. “
The journey continues. Utter pandemonium at Gatwick, so I'm taking the bus to Caterham and then hopefully home from there. I mean I support the strikes, but boy has my return been buggered by it. Government cunts.
— Bag of Cans TV (@Beeradventcal) December 27, 2022
Coach operators National Express and Megabus have experienced overwhelming demand as people looked to alternative modes of transport. Motorists will also face disruption, with thousands taking to the roads instead. The AA said it expected 15.2 million cars on UK roads on Boxing Day.
There were no trains to and from Gatwick Airport station on Boxing Day. It’s usually served by the Gatwick Express, Southern, Thameslink and Great Western Railway. As well as the rail strike, Border Force strikes have continued at six UK airports, including Gatwick.
Around 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, who are employed by the Home Office to operate passport booths, walked out at Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester airports, and the port of Newhaven in East Sussex. Apart from Tuesday they will not work for the rest of the year as part of their industrial action.
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union general secretary Mark Serwotka predicted there would be a “huge escalation” in industrial action in January across the civil service unless ministers enter into negotiations.
Despite the lack of chaos in airports, he insisted that the strike action “had worked” as he claimed that travellers were simply being “waved through” and passports were not being properly checked.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “sad and disappointed” about the disruption, but argued that the Government had acted “fairly and reasonably” on public pay.
