In a pay dispute, the majority of Britain’s passport office workers will go on strike for five weeks beginning next month, potentially disrupting passport delivery ahead of the summer vacation period.
More than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, who work in most of the UK’s passport offices, including those in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, will go on strike from April 3 to May 5, the union announced on Friday.
They join workers in other industries in Britain who have gone on strike in recent months, demanding higher pay to keep up with rising inflation.
Passport officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, may also strike if they vote yes on a ballot that closes on Friday.
“This escalation of our action has occurred because, in stark contrast to other parts of the public sector, ministers have failed to hold any meaningful talks with us, despite two massive strikes and six months of sustained, targeted action,” PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said.
The PCS union has demanded a 10% pay increase for civil servants, citing UK inflation of just over 10%. Passport officers had previously turned down a 2% raise.
Because the government’s passport offices are the sole issuers of UK passports, issuing over 5 million each year, any strike by officers working there will almost certainly cause significant disruption to services.
Britain is experiencing the worst wave of labor unrest since the 1980s, with strikes affecting almost every aspect of daily life, from healthcare and transportation to schools and border checks, as workers demand pay increases that more accurately reflect the worst inflation in four decades.
Around 100,000 other civil servants who work in government departments, along with thousands of other employees such as railway workers, doctors, and teachers, went on strike on Wednesday.
