Just days after strike action was announced by passport office workers, Britons are now worried that their Mallorca holiday could be ruined by industrial action by 1,000 Passport Office staff in the UK who will walk out from April 3 to May 5 in a row over pay and conditions.
Families are now rushing to get passports renewed or obtain new ones for children in time for holidays which have been booked to the Balearics and elsewhere in the world with Easter, the May Bank Holidays and the summer holidays coming up. While the strike action may only be four five weeks, it is already causing a major backlog with applicants being told to allow up to ten weeks for replacement passports and waiting times are expected to skyrocket if the walkouts take place.
One option is to apply for a fast track passport but despite that costing a small fortune, the system cannot cope with the sudden surge in applications.