UK leader tells Interpol meeting world must 'wake up' to threat from people-smugglers

LONDON (AP) — People-smuggling gangs sending migrants across the English Channel in small boats are a serious threat to global security and should be treated like terror networks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told an international law-enforcement conference on Monday.

Starmer told a meeting of the international police organization Interpol that “the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge.”

“People-smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism,” he said.

Starmer, a former chief prosecutor for England and Wales, said his government would be “taking our approach to counterterrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs.” That means more cooperation between law enforcement agencies, closer coordination with other countries and unspecified “enhanced” powers for law enforcement, he said.

Starmer said that in counterterrorism operations, “we can shut down their bank account, cut off their internet access and arrest them for making preparations to act before an attack has taken place.”

“And we need to stop people-smuggling gangs before they act too,” he said.

Starmer also announced plans to increase the U.K. Border Security Command’s two-year budget from 75 million pounds ($97 million) to 150 million pounds ($194 million). The money will be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators.

Senior police and government officials from Interpol’s 196 member nations are attending the global police body’s four-day congress in Glasgow, Scotland. Starmer and British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper both addressed the meeting, calling for stronger international policing cooperation to fight drug trafficking and child sexual abuse, as well as people-smuggling.

Britain’s 2020 departure from the European Union complicated international cooperation on law-enforcement by taking the U.K. out of the bloc’s police agency, Europol. Starmer’s Labour Party opposed Brexit, but says it will not try to reverse the decision to leave the bloc.

Starmer said he is seeking a new security pact with the EU that would restore real-time intelligence sharing.

Like previous Conservative British governments, Starmer’s administration is struggling to stop thousands of people fleeing war and poverty from trying reach the U.K. from France in flimsy, overcrowded boats.

Europe’s increasingly strict asylum rules, growing xenophobia and hostile treatment of migrants are pushing many migrants north. While the U.K. government has been hostile, too, many migrants have family or friends in the U.K. and believe they will have more opportunities there.

More than 31,000 migrants have made the perilous crossing of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes so far this year, more than in all of 2023, though fewer than in 2022. At least 56 people have perished in the attempts this year, according to French officials, making 2024 the deadliest since the number of channel crossings began surging in 2018.

Starmer, who leads a center-left government, has raised some eyebrows in September when he visited Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and praised her nationalist conservative government’s “remarkable” progress in reducing the number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores by boat.

Starmer argued Monday that “there’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the channel.”

The opposition Conservative Party argues that Starmer should not have scrapped the previous government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers who reach Britain by boat on one-way trips to Rwanda. Supporters of the proposal say it would act as a deterrent. Human rights groups and many lawyers say it is unethical and unlawful to send migrants thousands of miles to a country they don’t want to live in.

Starmer called the plan a “gimmick” and canceled it soon after he was elected in July. Britain paid Rwanda hundreds of millions of pounds for the plan under a deal signed by the two countries in 2022, without any deportations taking place.

Former Conservative Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove urged Starmer to revive the Rwanda plan, telling the BBC “it’s a very serious failure not to have a credible deterrent in place."

On Tuesday, Brazilian police official Valdecy Urquiza is expected to be named the new Interpol general secretary, replacing Jürgen Stock of Germany. He will be the first chief of the Lyon, France-based organization not to come from Europe or the United States.

Interpol, which celebrated its centennial last year, works to help national police forces communicate with each other and track suspects and criminals in fields like counterterrorism, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime and organized crime.

Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Juergen Stock Interpol secretary general, center, Graeme Biggar National crime agency director general, left, and Samuel Heath Interpol communications director, right, address the media at 92nd Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

The President of Interpol, Ahmed Naser Al Raise, speaking at the opening ceremony for the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

Juergen Stock Interpol secretary general speaks to the media at 92nd Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, left, walk at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Russell Cheyne/Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Russell Cheyne/Pool Photo via AP)

Valdecy Urquiza, Interpol's vice president for the Americas and head of international cooperation at the Brazilian federal police, poses for a portrait at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaking at the opening ceremony for the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, Nov. 4, 2024. Russell Cheyne/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, seen on a large video screen, speaking at the opening ceremony for the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, Nov. 4, 2024. (Russell Cheyne/Pool Photo via AP)

SEATTLE (AP) — Unionized factory workers at Boeing were voting Monday whether to accept a contract offer or to extend their strike, which has lasted more than seven weeks and shut down production of most Boeing passenger planes.

A vote to ratify the contract on the eve of Election Day would clear the way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to resume airplane production. If members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers vote for a third time to reject Boeing's offer, it would plunge the aerospace giant into further financial peril and uncertainty.

In its latest proposed contract, Boeing is offering pay raises of 38% over four years plus ratification and productivity bonuses. IAM District 751, which represents Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed the proposal, which is slightly more generous than one the machinists voted down nearly two weeks ago.

Union officials said they achieved all they could though bargaining and the strike, and that if the current proposal is rejected, future offers from Boeing might be worse. They expect to announce the result of the vote late Monday.

Boeing says average annual pay for machinists is $75,608 and would rise to $119,309 in four years under the current offer.

Pensions were a key issue for workers who rejected the company's previous offers in September and October. In its new offer, Boeing did not meet their demand to restore a pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.

If machinists ratify the contract now on the table, they would return to work by Nov. 12, according to the union.

The workers got their last paychecks in mid-September, a few days after the strike started, and are likely facing more pressure on their personal financial well-being.

Bernadeth Jimenez, who has worked in quality assurance at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, since 2022, said she voted “yes” on Monday after voting against previous company offers. She was satisfied with the proposed wage increases, and said she never expected a pension anyway — she's putting money in a 401(k) plan.

“This (offer) is good, and I really want to go back to work,” she said. “This time we're ready.”

Theresa Pound isn't ready. The 16-year company veteran said she voted “no” just as she did on the two earlier offers that went to a vote.

“Adding 3% (to the previous offer) doesn’t change anything for my future. It still doesn’t solidify that when I retire I’m going to have a comfortable living, and that’s the bottom line," she said. “Instant gratification is not going to save me.”

Both Jimenez and Pound have husbands who also work at Boeing, and both couples anticipated the strike and worked overtime before it started. Still, money is getting tight.

“We're making it by the best we can," Pound said. "We're going to run out soon, but it’s not going to be a stopping point for me to say, ‘Well, I’m out of money. I need to go back.’ I’m going to find other ways to make it work.”

There were fewer pro-strike protesters in Everett than during the Oct. 23 vote.

At a union hall in Renton, also near Seattle, signs warning against campaigning had been moved from inside to outside, and there was no table with workers handing out “Vote No” material, like the last time. A small knot of workers gathered around a burn barrel to talk and keep warm. The mood was subdued.

The strike began Sept. 13 with an overwhelming 94.6% rejection of Boeing's offer to raise pay by 25% over four years — far less than the union’s original demand for 40% wage increases over three years.

Machinists voted down another offer — 35% raises over four years, and still no revival of pensions — on Oct. 23, the same day that Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion. However, the offer received 36% support, up from 5% for the mid-September proposal, making Boeing leaders believe they were close to a deal.

The contract rejections reflected bitterness that built up after union concessions and small pay increases over the past decade.

The new proposal that Boeing made last week offered slightly larger pay increases plus a $12,000 contract-ratification bonus, up from $7,000 in the previous offer, and larger company contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts.

Boeing also promises to build its next airline plane in the Seattle area. Union officials fear the company might withdraw the pledge if workers reject the new offer.

The strike drew the attention of the Biden administration. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su intervened in the talks several times, including last week.

The labor standoff — the first strike by Boeing machinists since an eight-week walkout in 2008 — is the latest setback in a volatile year for the company.

Boeing came under several federal investigations after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Federal regulators put limits on Boeing airplane production that they said would last until they felt confident about manufacturing safety at the company.

The door-plug incident renewed concerns about the safety of the 737 Max. Two of the plane's crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The CEO whose effort to fix the company failed announced in March that he would step down. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.

As the strike dragged on, new CEO Kelly Ortberg announced about 17,000 layoffs and a stock sale to prevent the company’s credit rating from being cut to junk status. S&P and Fitch Ratings said last week that the $24.3 billion in stock and other securities will cover upcoming debt payments and reduce the risk of a credit downgrade.

The strike has created a cash crunch by depriving Boeing of money it gets when delivering new planes to airlines. The walkout at Seattle-area factories stopped production of the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling plane, and the 777, or “triple-seven,” jet and the cargo-carrying version of its 767 plane.

Ortberg has conceded that trust in Boeing has declined, the company has too much debt, and “serious lapses in our performance” have disappointed many airline customers. But, he says, the company’s strengths include a backlog of airplane orders valued at a half-trillion dollars.

Koenig reported from Dallas.

From left, Boeing employees Vance Meyring, Josue Ramirez and Joseph Mellon work the picket line after union members voted to reject a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, outside Boeing facilities in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A picket sign sits outside the Angel of the Winds Arena as striking Boeing employees gather to cast their votes, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A worker holds a sign as Boeing employees vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at a voting location in the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing employees on strike arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A Boeing employee walks by a sign carved out of wood while arriving to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at Seattle Union Hall in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing employees on strike arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A volunteer holds a vote to accept a new contract offer from Boeing, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at Seattle Union Hall in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A Boeing employee looks at informational pamphlets before heading in to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)