Oh, Snap: UK Immigration Officials to Go On Strike Day Before Olympics
The Olympics are just seven days away and, suddenly, the UK has morphed into that loud family having an ugly argument in the middle of Red Lobster at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday.
British Border Agency staff—the folks who check your passport and confiscate Michael Phelps' pot—announced Thursday they will strike for 24 hours on July 26, the day before the Games begin.
Workers from the UK Home Office, which comprises the Border Agency, police, and the MI5 Security Service (not to be confused with its bad-ass cousin MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service) are protesting standard union-y things, like pay, job cuts, the privatization of some of their services.
In addition to the one-day strike, union head Mark Sewotka, announced that Border Agency workers will work strictly to contract and refuse overtime between July 27 and August 20. (The Games end August 12. The Spice Girls might be coming.)
UK government officials cannot believe the Home Office is really tryna have this fight right now, in the middle of Red Lobster.
Theresa May, Secretary of State for the Home Department, labeled the decision "shameful," and promised that contingency plans would be implemented to ensure the UK's airports are not allowed to devolve into the chaos of an Italian airport. Ed Miliband, the leader of the UK Labour Party, slammed the actions of the union as "totally wrong," then added, like a man possessed, "Nothing must be allowed to disrupt the Olympic Games."
This snafu is only the latest in a slew of security-related headaches for Olympics organizers.
Last week, it emerged that the private contractor hired to provide security for the Game had severely overestimated its ability to, like, provide security for the Games. Only 4,000 of G4S' promised 10,400 guards were prepared for duty. Company executive Nick Buckles admitted that the company's performance was "a humiliating shambles."
Meanwhile, the world munches its Cheddar Bay Biscuits® in heavy silence and waits for the manager to be called.
