London 2012: Border Staff Union Calls off Strike Ahead of Olympics Opening Ceremony

3:24 AM PDT 7/25/2012 by Georg Szalai

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Organizers had feared serious delays for people flying into the British capital for the Summer Games in case of a strike by immigration officials.

LONDON - Immigration officials from the Public and Commercial Services Union here on Wednesday called off a strike that had been planned for Thursday, a day before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.

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Officials had feared serious disruptions and delays for people flying into the British capital for the Games due to the planned strike by border staff.

The PCS Union's general secretary Mark Serwotka told British TV networks on Wednesday though that there would be no strike after all. "We're pleased to be able to announce that real progress has been made" on details for a new labor deal, he said.

The union announced 800 new permanent jobs at the border agency and 300 new jobs in U.K. passport offices, according to ITV and BBC reports.

Conservative members of Parliament had accused the union of “holding the country to ransom." In a recent union vote, a fifth of the union’s 16,000 members participated, with 57 percent of them in favor of a strike.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai