UK immigration staff strike called off by union

A strike by UK immigration staff, which would have sparked travel chaos for passengers arriving in the UK, has been called off by the union.

ISU, formerly the Immigration Service Union, planned to hold their first strike in almost 30 years with 2,300 members walking out for 48 hours from midnight next Thursday over a roster dispute.

However the union said it has received an offer from the UK Border Agency management and had now agreed not to contest an injunction preventing the industrial action.

The union has called off the industrial action for next week and will ballot members to see whether the offer made by the Department is acceptable to members, and if the view of the membership is to reject the offer they will re-ballot for industrial action.

The union represents 84 per cent of UK immigration staff, including managerial levels and the strike would have had a major impact on anyone hoping to travel to the UK by sea, Eurostar or air.

The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with their UK Visa applications to the British Embassy.