1,000 new Passport Office workers join strike action

Until now the action has been limited to some staff in some offices, but today the union announced an escalation of action to include all members in all offices.

Almost 2,000 PCS members working as passport examiners in Belfast, Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport have been on strike since April 3 in the union’s long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

They will be joined from May 2-6 by 1,000 workers in key non-examination roles such as admin, anti- fraud, policy and commercial in the same offices, as well as interview officers in Birmingham, Corby, Hemel Hempstead, Leeds, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Plymouth from May 3-6.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “At every stage of this dispute we have warned we will escalate action if our demands are not met.

“Last week, when we were subject to an insulting pay announcement, is the latest example of how we’re treated as the poor relations of public services – despite being the government’s own workforce we were offered no backdated pay deal, no lump sum and no chance to negotiate.

“Our members are not prepared to be treated this way which is why we are escalating our action. Ministers can stop these strikes and ease the passport backlog tomorrow by making a reasonable offer to our members.”

The news comes a day after the union announced new strikes at the Department for Work and Pensions and a week before a third day of national action on April 28 involving more than 130,000 civil and public servants.

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