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More than 1,000 Passport Office employees will go on strike for 5 weeks over a dispute about jobs, pay and circumstances, unions say.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working throughout England, Scotland and Wales will participate within the motion from 3 April to five May.
The union warned of delays to purposes and the supply of passports within the run-up to summer season.
Those working in Belfast are being balloted and will be part of the strike.
BBC News has contacted the Home Office for a response.
More than 4,000 individuals are employed by the Passport Office throughout the UK, that means that in keeping with the union figures round one in 4 employees can be strolling out.
The workplaces affected in England, Scotland and Wales will embrace Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport.
At peak occasions – together with the month of April when the strike will happen – the Passport Office can obtain 250,000 purposes per week, in keeping with journey knowledgeable Simon Calder.
It implies that multiple million purposes may very well be despatched through the strike interval, he stated.
The authorities says the strike doesn’t have an effect on their steerage which remains to be to permit as much as ten weeks to get a passport.
A UK grownup passport is legitimate for 10 years, but when it is because of expire chances are you’ll be refused entry into some international locations.
Most international locations require the passport you might be travelling with to be legitimate all through your deliberate keep, however different international locations – primarily ones the place you want visas for entry – require a passport with a sure time period left till the expiry date. Guidance for every nation might be discovered on the government’s foreign travel advice website.
PCS common secretary Mark Serwotka stated the dispute was over a proposed 2% pay rise which he stated was not being elevated any additional by the federal government.
He added the strike motion had come about as a result of “ministers have failed to carry any significant talks with us, regardless of two large strikes and sustained, focused motion lasting six months”.
He stated: “Their method is additional proof they’re treating their very own workforce worse than anybody else.
“They’ve had six months to resolve this dispute however for six months have refused to enhance their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to handle our members’ different problems with concern.”
He went on to say that the federal government was “ignoring our members” over their pay considerations however this is able to not make them “go away”.
Last 12 months, tons of of 1000’s of individuals had been affected by passport processing delays as coronavirus journey restrictions had been lifted.
The newest motion from passport workplace employees comes after months of strikes over pay disputes in different sectors, reminiscent of rail employees, London Underground drivers, academics, NHS workers, regional BBC journalists, college lecturers and civil servants.
On Thursday, unions representing healthcare employees in England agreed a last pay supply with the federal government – which if accepted by members at a vote would convey walkouts from nurses, ambulance crews, paramedics, hospital porters and different well being employees to an finish.
