Workers at the United Kingdom's passport- issuing service Monday began a five-week strike, part of a movement by public sector employees to demand better wages and working conditions.
More than a thousand members of the PCS union for civil servants and the public sector are scheduled to participate in the strike , demanding that the government initiate negotiations, as it has done with employees in other sectors, notably nurses and teachers.
Likewise, the union, which includes more than 130,000 government employees, called for a broad strike day on April 28 that includes all government departments.
"Unlike what has happened with other government sectors, the government has not engaged in meaningful talks with us, despite two major strikes and other specific actions in the past six months," union secretary Mark Sirotka said in a statement.
In particular, the union is calling for an increase in wages by more than 2 percent, which was approved, given the inflation that has exceeded 10 percent for months in the country.
The United Kingdom, which has been experiencing an unprecedented living crisis for decades, has been shaken by several social movements in recent months.
After a weeks-long strike, nurses and other health workers, teachers and railway workers have suspended their movement after receiving offers from the government of better wages.
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A five-week strike begins in Britain's passport-issuing apparatus