Three-day strike by 3,000 passport staff threatens summer holiday chaos

The holidays of tens of thousands of families could be hit by a strike by passport workers.

People waiting for new passports may not get them before they are due to travel.

Those who could suffer include parents who suddenly find their passport has expired or is lost, or realise for the first time that a child's passport is valid for only five years.

The strike, by workers responsible for interviewing applicants, processing and issuing passports, begins today and is scheduled to last three days.

It will take several more days to return to normal service as workers catch up with the backlog.

On average, around 16,500 passports are issued every day, but the number is much higher in summer.

The action by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, angry over below-inflation pay rises, has been timed to coincide with the height of the holiday getaway. Union leaders say further strikes may follow.

The action will bring back memories of summer 1999, when the chaotic introduction of a new computer system left more than 500,000 people waiting up to 50 days for passports.

More than 500 missed their travel dates, while thousands more had to go to passport offices to obtain their documents.

Yesterday a spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service said all seven regional offices, in London, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Peterborough, Newport and Durham, will stay open.

People who apply in person in an 'emergency situation' will still be able to get a passport.

Inconvenient: The strike coincides with the busiest travel period of the year as school summer holidays begin

A typical emergency would be someone with an expired passport who needs to travel within two days.

It does not cover applying for a first passport, replacing a lost, stolen or damaged passport, or changing a name.

Since June last year, everybody over 16 applying for a first passport has to be interviewed in person.

The passport strike comes at a time of growing militancy among unions, who are exploiting their grip on Labour's finances.

The number of working days lost to walkouts has trebled under Gordon Brown.

Last week around 500,000 Unison members staged a two-day pay strike which led to schools closing and rubbish going uncollected.

The PCS said up to 2,900 of its members will join the strike action. They are protesting at average pay rises of just 2.5 per cent, which the union says are effectively cuts in wages with inflation at a 16-year high of 3.8 per cent.

Almost a third of passport staff will have their wages frozen because they have reached the top of the pay scale, said PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.

For some, it will be the fifth successive year without an increase.

Holidaymakers in need of a passport will be hoping to avoid queues like this one

The union says starting salaries are as low as £13,109, leaving workers struggling to afford fuel and food and pay other soaring bills.

There is also concern about the closure of regional offices, which could be cut from seven to three.

The Tories are warning that Britain is in the grip of a wave of militancy in the public sector.

Labour is now almost totally reliant on union leaders for funding and there is concern that they wield an increasing influence over policy.

Gifts from individual supporters have all but dried up in the wake of the cash for peerages affair and the collapse in Labour's poll ratings.

Anybody needing further information can call the Passport Advice Line on 0870 521 0410.