United Kingdom: passport staff on strike

PCS union members outside the passport issuing office in London, April 3, 2023. AP - Kirsty Wigglesworth

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

In the UK, calls for strikes are endless. After the health personnel, the teachers, the firefighters, it is now up to the administrative staff responsible for issuing passports to express their rage about their salaries.

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With our correspondent in London, Sidonie Gaucher

The beginning of the Easter holidays starts badly, and it's not over. Concern is growing about issuing passports for many people who realize that their plans will be prevented by another round of massive strikes.

This is the case of this father from Sussex. "I was told it would take ten weeks to get my passport back," he says. Our holidays are booked for the end of May, it is the next school holidays. It's infuriating because ten weeks is a long time. I'm angry, because we're probably going to miss out on our vacation. I understand the strike, but the kids can't wait to go on vacation. I'm looking forward to it too, and we certainly won't be able to leave.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, said: "One thousand six hundred civil servants will be on strike. That's 85% of the workforce. Delays and queues are therefore inevitable.

The government believes that this strike will not have an impact, but for Mark Serwotka, that is not the issue. According to him, "it is frankly surprising to know that public servants use allowances and food banks, and that the state finds it normal. Let them have a 2% increase when inflation is at 18%.

The strikes will continue throughout April, followed by staff from the British Museum, the British Library, road transport and border police. The British administrations are calling for a "total" walkout at the end of April.

► Read alsoUnited Kingdom: Heathrow airport security guards on strike for the Easter holidays

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• United Kingdom
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