More than 1,000 Passport Office workers throughout the UK will strike for 5 weeks in an escalation of a dispute over pay, jobs and situations.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working at passport workplaces in Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newport, Peterborough and Southport will stroll out from 3 April to five May.
Those in Belfast will strike from 7 April to five May.
The union stated the motion is a “significant escalation” within the long-running dispute, because it warned the strike could have a “significant impact” on the supply of passports as summer season approaches.
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Members are asking for a ten% pay rise in addition to job safety, adjustments to their pensions and guarded redundancy phrases.
But the federal government has stated calls for from civil servants would value £2.4bn and are unaffordable.
PCS basic secretary Mark Serwotka stated: “This escalation of our action has come about because, in sharp contrast with other parts of the public sector, ministers have failed to hold any meaningful talks with us, despite two massive strikes and sustained, targeted action lasting six months.
“Their strategy is additional proof they’re treating their very own workforce worse than anybody 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.
“They appear to suppose in the event that they ignore our members, they will go away. But how can our members ignore the price of residing disaster when 40,000 civil servants are utilizing foodbanks and 45,000 of them are claiming the advantages they administer themselves?
“It’s a national scandal and a stain on this government’s reputation that so many of its own workforce are living in poverty.”
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Passport Office workers have come underneath rising stress following a “record number of applications” in 2022 after COVID restrictions had been lifted within the UK and overseas, the Home Office stated.
A complete of 360,000 folks needed to wait longer than 10 weeks to obtain their passports final yr.
And a report by the federal government’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, warned the Passport Office ought to “prepare for similar levels of demand” in 2023, with as much as 10 million functions anticipated.
About 100,000 civil servants went on strike on 1 February
On 1 February, Passport Office workers joined about 100,000 civil servants represented by the PCS as a part of industrial motion affecting 124 authorities departments.
About 133,000 civil servants additionally walked out on Wednesday within the largest day of strikes since this present wave began final yr.
Source: information.sky.com”
