More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are set to go on strike for five weeks following a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions say unions. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union will take part in industrial action lasting from April 3 until May 5.
The union has warned the action will have a “significant impact” on the delivery of passports ahead of the busy summer period. Around 4,000 people are employed by the Passport Office in the UK, meaning around a quarter of the workforce will be missing.
Offices affected during the strike period will include Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough, and Southport.
April and May is a busy period for the passport office as they can receive around 250,000 passport applications a week according to expert Simon Calder.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the dispute was over an imposed two percent pay rise not being increased by the government.
Mr Serwotka said: “Their approach is further evidence they’re treating their own workforce worse than anyone else.
“They’ve had six months to resolve this dispute but for six months have refused to improve their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to address our members’ other issues of concern.”
He added the government was ignoring the members over the pay dispute and that ignoring their pay concerns would not make the problem go away.
