Greater than 1,000 Passport Workplace employees will go on strike for 5 weeks over a dispute about jobs, pay and circumstances, unions say.

Members of the Public and Industrial Companies union working throughout England, Scotland and Wales will participate within the motion from 3 April to five Might.

The union warned of delays to purposes and the supply of passports within the run-up to summer season.

These working in Belfast are being balloted and will be part of the strike.

BBC Information has contacted the House Workplace for a response.

Greater than 4,000 persons are employed by the Passport Workplace throughout the UK, which means that in accordance with the union figures round one in 4 employees might be strolling out.

The workplaces affected in England, Scotland and Wales will embody Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport.

At peak instances – together with the month of April when the strike will happen – the Passport Workplace can obtain 250,000 purposes per week, in accordance with journey skilled Simon Calder.

It implies that multiple million purposes could possibly be despatched throughout the strike interval, he stated.

The federal government says the strike doesn’t have an effect on their steerage which remains to be to permit as much as ten weeks to get a passport.

A UK grownup passport is legitimate for 10 years, but when it is because of expire you could be refused entry into some international locations.

Most international locations require the passport you might be travelling with to be legitimate throughout your deliberate keep, however different international locations – primarily ones the place you want visas for entry – require a passport with a sure time frame left till the expiry date. Steering for every nation could be discovered on the federal government’s overseas journey recommendation web site.

PCS common secretary Mark Serwotka stated the dispute was over a proposed 2% pay rise which he stated was not being elevated any additional by the federal government.

He added the strike motion had come about as a result of “ministers have failed to carry any significant talks with us, regardless of two huge strikes and sustained, focused motion lasting six months”.

He stated: “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 however for six months have refused to enhance their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to handle our members’ different problems with concern.”

He went on to say that the federal government was “ignoring our members” over their pay considerations however this might not make them “go away”.

Final yr, a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals had been affected by passport processing delays as coronavirus journey restrictions had been lifted.

The newest motion from passport workplace employees comes after months of strikes over pay disputes in different sectors, equivalent to rail employees, London Underground drivers, lecturers, NHS workers, regional BBC journalists, college lecturers and civil servants.

On Thursday, unions representing healthcare employees in England agreed a closing pay provide with the federal government – which if accepted by members at a vote would convey walkouts from nurses, ambulance crews, paramedics, hospital porters and different well being employees to an finish.