The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has updated its national strike calendar to confirm industrial action tomorrow, Wednesday 30 September 2026. The walk-out covers multiple civil-service employers, including Border Force, HM Passport Office and key Home Office directorates. Although exact staffing levels are confidential, past PCS actions have seen eGates switched off at several international airports and immigration desks operating on skeleton crews, leading to queues of more than two hours at peak arrival times. The timing is awkward for business travel. Passenger numbers traditionally spike in late September as executives return from summer leave and universities begin autumn terms. Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports warned airlines in an industry call this morning that they may need to implement ‘flow control’—delaying disembarkation until halls clear—to avoid breaches of fire capacity. Eurostar has already offered fee-free re-booking for inbound passengers holding flexible tickets. For global mobility programmes the operational advice is twofold: first, inform all assignees, business travellers and relocating employees entering the UK on 30 September to allow extra time and, where possible, to complete Advance Passenger Information (API) checks well before departure. Second, review any start-date-critical immigration appointments—such as biometric enrolments or in-country visa conversions—that fall on strike day; rescheduling may be prudent. The industrial unrest originates from a long-running dispute over pay, pensions and head-count reductions across the civil service. While PCS has focused recent energy on museums and regulators, the union’s Border Force group retains a live strike mandate until December. Employers that rely on just-in-time personnel deployment—film crews, audit teams, vessel engineers—should model further disruptions through the winter. Looking ahead, Cabinet Office officials have hinted at a fresh pay offer tied to efficiency savings, but PCS insiders suggest members want an above-inflation settlement to reflect the cost-of-living squeeze. Unless compromise is reached, mobility managers may need to build strike-day buffers into travel policies for the foreseeable future.
Source: StrikeCalendar.co.uk
