Public and Commercial Services Union

Members will probably have seen the note from Brodie Clark regarding the dispute which is currently taking place in European operations

The note is misleading and specifically designed to undermine the dispute.

In the note the head of border force, referring to juxtaposed allowances, states:

“Staff within European operations have been in receipt of these expenses since the inception of the work in 2003. The rates are attached and, frankly, are unparalleled anywhere else in the UKBA. They were introduced at a time of enormous pressure and when the operation in France was at a basic and rudimentary level. Things have progressed and I am grateful for the more recent contribution of staff who I spoke with at Martello House about further ways of improving the operation and the working environment in Northern France.”

Some points of clarification:

Allowances

• Staff have received allowances at juxtaposed controls since 1994 when staff were deployed to Coquelles. When the juxtaposed controls were set up in Calais in 2003 staff volunteered to work there on the basis that they would be paid subsistence. The Department reaffirmed this position with staff before realignment. The Department never once stated or implied that the payments were time limited. This is why staff who volunteered to work on the juxtaposed controls feel fundamentally betrayed by senior managers.
• The rates are unparalleled because the situation is unparalleled. Staff are posted to Martello House in Folkestone and travel to work on detached duty to the juxtaposed controls in northern France. This is the basis on which they receive subsistence payments. Staff posted elsewhere actually work in the place they are posted to. Staff working on detached duty have often been hours late returning from their shifts due to transport problems. They regularly spend time away from their families in northern France due to the fact that they are on detached duty in another country separated by the English Channel.

Working conditions

As stated above, the fact that staff are on detached duty is the basis on which the juxtaposed allowances are paid. However staff on the juxtaposed controls work in very poor conditions, as do many other staff in UKBF. The truth is that the operation in France has hardly changed at all with regard to accommodation. Permanent Portakabins have replaced temporary Portakabins. Canopies have been installed to protect staff from the weather at the car and freight booths but these have proved inadequate and staff still get wet. New freight booths have been installed. However they leak.

The conditions are still basic and rudimentary. The environment staff work in is not helped by the fumes spewing from a nearby chemical factory which has resulted in numerous cases of ill health.

Tony Smith, the former head of Border Control, acknowledged that the level of subsistence payments reflected the unique combination of conditions staff work in. It is pity that the current incumbent doesn’t recognise this.

Staff in the UKBF face the biggest threats to their terms and conditions that they have ever faced. We know that annualised hours and team based working are on the Department’s agenda. The thinly veiled threat in the Department’s communication that we must accept a deterioration in our conditions or face job cuts will not be lost on members.

Today the workers in European Operations are under attack. Tomorrow it could be you.

It is vital that we stand together and support each other in these difficult times and ignore management propaganda designed to divide us.