Passport pandemonium: More than 1 in 4 Passport Office workers will strike for five weeks in the UK

More than 1,000 Passport Office workers will go on strike for five weeks over a dispute over jobs, wages and conditions.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in England, Scotland and Wales will take part in the action from 3 April to 5 May.

Those who work in Belfast are being voted out and could join the strike.

The union warned that the action is likely to have a “significant impact” on the delivery of passports before summer.

The public is asked not to panic and submit non-urgent requests.

Please check the expiry date on your passport and note that since Brexit the rules around passports and travel to and from the UK may have changed.

The Passport Office employs over 4,000 people across the UK. The Home Office is disappointed that the strike was announced overnight while constructive talks were taking place.

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said the dispute was over an imposed 2% wage increase that the government did not increase further. He added that the strike came about because “the ministers have not been able to have meaningful talks with us, despite two massive strikes and sustained and targeted actions lasting six months.”

He said: “Their approach is further proof that they are treating their own workforce worse than anyone else.

“They had six months to resolve this dispute, but for six months they refused to improve their imposed 2% pay increase and failed to address other issues of concern to our members.”

He went on to say that the government was “ignoring our members” over their wage concerns, but this would not make them “disappear”.

Serwotka said: “But how can our members ignore the cost of living crisis when 40,000 civil servants are using food banks and 45,000 of them are claiming the benefits they administer themselves?

“It is a national scandal and a stain on the reputation of this government that so many of its own workers live in poverty.”

The latest action by passport office workers comes after months of strikes over pay disputes in other sectors, including railway workers, London Underground conductors, teachers, NHS staff, BBC regional journalists, university professors and public workers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Remember to come back and check The weekly euro news website for all your up to date local and international news and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and instagram.