Pilots could strike over ID cards
19.11.08
Aviation workers have warned that proposals to make airport staff register for ID cards from next year would do little to improve security and could lead to strike action, the Independent reports. Airport workers will be the first British citizens to be given ID cards, which are due to be introduced for young people from 2010.
The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), which represents 10,000 of the 12,000 commercial pilots and flight engineers in Britain, said its members were being treated as ‘guinea pigs’. Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary, said the Government's ‘early warning system should be flashing’ over opposition to the plans.
The Home Office insists the cards will help airport workers improve security and streamline pass applications when staff move jobs. Ministers will publish draft regulations on Friday to set up a trial requiring airside staff at Manchester Airport and London City Airport to sign up for an ID card before they can get security passes allowing them to work. If the regulations are approved, the first ID cards will be issued at the two airports from autumn next year as part of an 18-month trial.
But Mr McAuslan told the newspaper that he would be consulting members on the possibility of industrial action if the Government presses ahead with the plans. He said: ‘We want the Government to think again about the compulsory nature of it and think again about the whole scheme. The Government has said previously that ID cards will be voluntary but the indications are that if you choose not to have a card you will not get an airside pass.’
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