On Thursday 30<sup>th June, up to 750,000 members from four unions will cross the picket line causing mass disruption to many public sector services in England and Wales. Air traffic controllers, coast guards, prison workers and customs and immigration staff have all been balloted and strike action is set to cause mass disruption to British airports and schools. The National Union of Teachers has said they expect 85 per cent of schools to be closed.

Members of the three main teachers unions were balloted two weeks ago and with the support of the Public and Commercial Union the strikes are set to cause both disruption and an added security risk to Britain's borders.

Travellers have been told to expect long delays at passport control as the UK Border Agency staff join up to 750,000 public sector workers striking over plans to reform public sector pensions. It is expected that thousands of schools, jobcentres, tax offices and courts are also expected to close or for services to be badly disrupted.

It will be 500,000 British travellers that will see at first hand the disruption the strikes are set to cause. PCS suggest that such strikes could lead to a 'theoretical risk to security' because Britain's borders will be weakened by the pressure on those staff not on strike to clear backlogs. With airports being dragged into the public sector strikes, there are real concerns over the security of the nation's borders on Thursday. It takes an experienced immigration official to detect a forged passport and even though the government has declared it has a 'rigorous' contingency plan, smugglers and travellers using fake passports will have a better chance of passing through British immigration than on any other day.

How the strikes will affect you

    • National Union of Teachers (NUT) have said that 85 per cent of schools will be fully or partially close which will affect more than a million pupils.
    • State schools and academies are set to be hit hardest.
    • Work places will feel the effect of parents having to stay home to look after their children.
    • Although most universities' summer terms have come to an end some 350 colleges are expected to face colours and major disruptions.
    • Courts could be disrupted and policing is set to be affected.
    • Driving tests will be cancelled with services to job centres and tax benefit offices set to be disrupted although the government has insisted it has contingency plans to cover these services.

For more information on the public sector strikes and how they will affect you tomorrow click here