Passport Workers To Go On Strike In UK

More than 1,000 Passport Office workers will go on strike for five weeks in the United Kingdom, according to news reports from the UK.

A BBC report said, “Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working across England, Scotland and Wales will take part in the action from 3 April to 5 May. Those working in Belfast will strike from 7 April to 5 May. 

“The union warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer. The Home Office said it was ‘disappointed’ with the PCS’s decision.”

The BBC report said, “More than 4,000 people are employed by the Passport Office across the UK, meaning that according to the union figures around one in four workers will be walking out.

“The union says strike action is being targeted to cause mass disruption and involves members working in departments which examine passports – more than 1,300 people. The offices affected in England, Scotland and Wales will include Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport.

“At peak times – including the month of April when the strike will take place – the Passport Office can receive 250,000 applications per week, according to travel expert Simon Calder. It means that more than one million applications could be sent during the strike period, he said.

“The Home Office says the strike does not affect its guidance which is still to allow up to 10 weeks to get a passport, with preparations under way to meet demand.

“Current waiting times for first adult passports are just over 18 days while renewals are just over 14 days, according to an independent crowd sourcing website which relies on people inputting their own application wait times. But news of the strike has given rise to fears passports will not be processed in time for some people’s holidays this summer.”

Bermuda, as in British Overseas Territory Citizen passports, are printed in the UK, and what effect, if any, this may have on Bermuda passport processing times remains to be seen.

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