The British passport office workers have begun a five-week strike in the increasingly bitter civil service dispute over jobs, pay, pensions, and conditions.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) accused the government of failing to deal even-handedly with public sector workers.
The UK has been hit by a series of strikes across various industries in recent months, from ambulance staff, rail workers, and doctors to teachers and dock workers.
Unions say that their members have been hit hard by a combination of high inflation and stagnating wages, leaving them struggling to pay their bills.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka accused ministers of failing to engage in meaningful talks with civil servants. Negotiations have been opened with unions representing health workers and teachers, but not with civil servants.
The strike will involve more than 1,000 members of the PCS civil servants union, and picket lines will be mounted outside eight sites. A nationwide walkout of over 130,000 civil servants is also planned for April 28.
Serwotka said that the government was treating its workforce worse than any other sector. He noted that the government had six months to resolve the dispute but had refused to improve their two percent imposed pay rise or address other concerns raised by union members.
“They seem to think if they ignore our members, they’ll go away. But how can our members ignore the cost-of-living crisis when 40,000 civil servants are using food banks and 45,000 of them are claiming the benefits they administer themselves?” he added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has rejected demands for large pay hikes, arguing that they are unaffordable and will fuel inflation.
Earlier this month, the UK government and teaching unions agreed to hold “intensive talks” following a pay deal reached with health unions.
Comments are closed.