Time to take on the trade union militants If you are travelling through Heathrow next week, be sure to take a good book. The lengthy delays that are already disrupting schedules and infuriating thousands of passengers are set to get even worse, with members of the Immigration Services Union (ISU) joining a nationwide day of strike action on Thursday. The authorities are urging passengers not to cancel their flights, and insisting that the disruption will be "minimal," as civil servants and military police are drafted in to replace the border guards. But few travellers will rely on such reassurances. That the ISU is determined to inconvenience the public is not a surprise. What is curious, however, is that it is striking not over staff cuts, or similar grievances, but pensions. Alongside other government workers - including lecturers, medical staff, Ministry of Defence employees and members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary - the border guards object to proposed reforms to public sector entitlements, and insist that their current scheme must remain intact. For a Coalition beset by troubles, this is a rare gift. The unions are striking in order to retain pensions that are unaffordably generous. The Government's offer has already been sweetened in response to union opposition; demands for further concessions will only unite the country against such naked selfishness, especially at a time of national - and global - belt-tightening. Indeed, many in the public sector have already come to terms with the new deal, which remains far better than its private sector equivalents. Only 200,000 people are expected to take action on Thursday, against more than 1.5 million in November; within the ISU itself, only one in five voted to strike. Despite such dwindling support, Thursday's action is sure to inconvenience millions of people throughout the country. And it is a safe bet that the unions are already preparing their demands for working during the Olympics, in order to secure the same juicy bonuses that London Underground drivers will receive simply for consenting to do their jobs. It is surely time for the Government to insist that enough is enough. The withdrawal of labour on such pitifully small voting turnouts ensures that a militant fringe can have a disproportionate influence. Next week, the Coalition will present a Queen's Speech that is expected to feature a prominent commitment to House of Lords reform. Instead of wasting their time on a constitutional boondoggle that is of no interest or benefit to the voters, ministers should instead bring forth legislation to ensure that any strike ballot must have a turnout of at least 50 per cent to be valid. Otherwise, an irreconcilable rump will continue to hold the rest of us to ransom.