PASSPORT Office workers will walk out for five weeks from TODAY – causing “significant impact” to Brit holiday plans.
More than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at eight sites will strike amid a raging row over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions.
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PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka has written to the Government demanding urgent talks in a bid to resolve the dispute.
He accuses ministers of treating its own employees differently to others in the public sector after negotiations were held with health and teaching unions.
The Passport Office is the sole issuer of UK passports and the union warned it was likely to have a “significant impact” on delivery of the documents.
Around 600,000 passport renewal applications could be received during the five-week strike period where there will be a depleted workforce.
Picket lines will be mounted outside passport offices in Glasgow, Durham, Liverpool, Southport, Peterborough, London, Belfast and Newport in Wales.
Despite the strikes, there are currently no plans to change official guidance which states that it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport.
The Home Office said the Passport Office has already processed more than 2.7 million applications this year.
They add that over 99.7 percent of standard applications are being processed within 10 weeks, with the majority of those delivered to customers well under this timescale.
A Downing Street spokesman added: “The Home Office will work hard to manage the impact of this strike action to ensure they can still provide the vital service to the British public.
“As you would expect ahead of ahead of the summer where we fully acknowledge that many people will want to get away and enjoy the summer with their family.”
A passport office document controller can earn up to £22,400 a year, up to £27,650 for a counter fraud officer and up to £27,650 for a customer service team leader.
The PCS union plans to step up strikes, with a nationwide walkout of more than 130,000 civil servants planned for April 28.
Meanwhile, Heathrow said the airport continues to operate as normal and security lanes are free-flowing despite an ongoing strike by security guards.
Contingency plans are “working well” an airport spokesman said, adding: “There have been no last-minute cancellations at Heathrow due to these strikes.
“Any cancellations were agreed and actioned at the start of the week, giving passengers advance notice.
“Any additional cancellations today are an airline decision and not connected to these strikes.
“This could include a number of factors such as aircraft issues, crew shortages, weather at outstations or air traffic control issues like the ongoing strikes in France.”
