NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland’s Public Servants have staged a one-day strike over their pay and working conditions.
It follows a vote by Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) members who said they have had below-inflation pay rises for nine years.
However, the Province’s Department of Finance said the rise was “fair in the context of the challenging financial environment”.
It estimated 4,247 staff went on strike but said the majority of public services continued to be delivered.
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is one of the Province’s largest employers, with more than 23,000 permanent staff working across a range of sectors including road maintenance, vehicle testing, jobs and benefits offices, courts and prisons.
General Secretary of NIPSA, Alison Millar said striking was not a decision to be taken lightly.
“Members have, however, given a strong mandate for strike action with over 68 per cent voting to support strike action and almost 87 per cent voting to support action short of strike action,” Ms Millar said.
“There has been mounting anger among Civil Servants at what they see as being asked to do more work for a reduction in real salary.”
She said that since the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly more than two years ago, PS employees had effectively kept the country running.
“What they have received in return is a significantly below-inflation pay increase and ongoing attacks on their terms and conditions of employment,” Ms Millar said.
Belfast, 26 July 2019
