Strike: Disruption expected due to Unite pay dispute

Councils, housing management and some schools face a disruption of up to two weeks from Monday due to strikes by the Unite union.

Unite members in most local councils and the Housing Executive begin a strike Monday over pay disputes.

Union members in the Education Authority (EA) will then begin strikes from Tuesday 26 April.

The action follows an earlier strike by Unite members in March over a 1.75% salary offer from the local government.

The union called for an “actual pay cut” as the cost of living has skyrocketed due to rising fuel, energy and food costs.

Unite’s Northern Ireland officer, Gareth Scott, said employers were to blame for the resumption of strikes.

“These employers need to address the salary expectations of their workforce,” he said in a statement.

“Your failure to date has led to this escalation and the resulting unnecessary disruption.”

But the EA has said the Unite strike comes after a wage offer from local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that has already been accepted by a majority of unions.

“As such, local government organisations, including EA, do not have the power or authority to renegotiate this for Northern Ireland,” the authority said.

Some EA yellow bus routes, which take students to school, will not run for two weeks starting Tuesday.

However, school bus services operated by Translink will continue as usual following the postponement of a possible bus drivers’ strike.

The EA also said some special schools were facing disruption as some non-teaching staff, including class assistants, went on strike.

One special needs school – Glenveagh in Belfast – has already said the dispute will result in its pupils being unable to come to school for almost two weeks.

The EA said it had asked Unite to exempt special education staff and bus drivers from the strike action, but the union refused.

“We strongly believe that these requests are reasonable and valid, and we remain unsure on what basis Unite will reject them, given the impact they have on some of the most vulnerable children,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, the Housing Executive has announced that some of its planned repair services for tenants in Craigavon, Coleraine and North and West Belfast are likely to be affected until May 8th.

Community services likely to be affected include some garbage collection, street cleaning and the operation of some venues.

For example, Belfast City Council said City Hall, Belfast Zoo and some community centres, play centres, sports fields, bocce courts, parks and public toilets could be closed on some days during the strike.

Derry City and Strabane Borough Council said it expected “disruptions to a range of services such as refuse collection, street cleaning, recycling yards, leisure facilities and a range of other services”.

It said “the magnitude of the impact will vary across services.”