Province facing strike standstill
�Press Eye Ltd Northern Ireland - 28th November 2011 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye. Northern Ireland prepares for Wednesday's for nation wide public sector strike action. UNISON Area Organiser Una Nimhearain helps prepare placards for the strike at the UNISON offices on York Street in Belfast.
A CABINET minister has accused union “militants” of “itching for a fight” as plans were being finalised for a strike by up to two million workers across Northern Ireland and Great Britain on Wednesday, in a dispute over pensions.
Education Secretary Michael Gove was criticised yesterday after saying union leaders wanted to “wreck” economic recovery and cause public misery.
Unions said many workers involved in tomorrow’s walkout would be taking strike action for the first time in their lives, adding that the government was becoming “desperate” because it was losing public support.
Northern Ireland is expected to come to a virtual standstill during tomorrow’s strike action over pensions.
All public transport has been cancelled for the day, forcing thousands of commuters to make alternative travel arrangements.
The majority of schools are expected to close and hospitals and health services will be affected, while many council facilities will also close.
The DUP has said the strike could cost the economy an estimated £500 million and has slammed Sinn Fein Education Minister John O’Dowd who said he would not cross the picket line. The DUP has said the trade unions’ approach will “damage the economy”.
The Prime Minister said the strike will damage the economy, while it emerged that airlines have cancelled some flights in and out of Heathrow airport on Wednesday.
Unison leader Dave Prentis said there was “absolutely no chance” of reaching a deal in the next few days over the government’s controversial pension reforms, announcing that the union had doubled its recruitment in recent weeks as a result of the dispute. “It could be the biggest action since the 1926 General Strike,” he predicted.
Northern Ireland’s Department of Education told the News Letter yesterday it did not have a clear picture of how many schools would take part in the strike, referring queries on to education boards, but a spokeswoman added that the onus was on principals to inform parents what each school was doing.
The Southern Education and Library Board could only say last night that two special schools would definitely be closed, Ceara in Lurgan and Rathore in Newry.
The Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) said Mitchell House in south Belfast is the only school that will definitely stay open in its area.
The following schools are definitely closing, a spokesman said – The Girls Model, Brefne Nursery in north Belfast, St Therese PS in north Belfast, four special schools at Malone Campus (Fleming Fulton, Oakwood, Glenveigh, Harberton), Belmont PS in east Belfast and Edenderry NS on the Shankill Road.
The BELB spokesman said the vast majority of schools in the area will be closing and that the decision was down to boards of governors/principals. Fifty out of 70 board bus drivers would also be on strike, he added.
A spokeswoman for the Western Education and Library Board said there are the region of 130 schools to close in the area, as of last night.
The North Eastern Education and Library Board said it had no definitive list of schools which were closing. “Only a handful of schools have contacted the board so far to say they will not be open for pupils,” a spokesman said. “It appears that virtually all the unions representing both teaching and non-teaching staff in schools will be taking part in the action. School meals and transport workers as well as teachers and support staff could be involved.
“The board has advised school principals to try to clarify who in their school will be absent on the day and as a result assess the risks and determine whether or not their school can remain open to pupils. They should then arrange to communicate this to parents as quickly as possible.”
The South Eastern Education and Library Board said that it expected a final list of school closures will be issued this morning following a meeting to discuss the issue.
The Department of Health said that local Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCT) would be able to advise on how they would be affected.
Belfast HSCT said that due to prior notice from unions, “we are in a position to minimise disruption to patients. Any cancelled appointments will be scheduled as quickly as possible”.
The South Eastern HSCT made a similar comment. “Because we had a run in to this strike and knew it was happening, we didn’t book in a lot of surgery for that day so there wasn’t much to cancel,” a spokeswoman said. “We did have some elective surgery planned but it’s just been rescheduled away from that day. We have been working closely with the unions as usual to make sure that the domiciliary and front line services go ahead.”
The Southern HSCT said it was working with unions to ensure safe service provision.
“Services will be under pressure but we are putting plans in place to minimise any major disruption in care and treatment to patients and clients,” a spokeswoman said. “We will be contacting patients and clients who are likely to be affected. We ask for patience and co-operation from the public as some delays will be inevitable.”
The Northern HSCT said that as the trust had an extensive lead-in time to the strike action no acute elective procedures were booked in for this date.
Laboratory, radiology and pharmacy services will be operating a bank holiday service and Antrim Family Centre will be closed.
Elderly day centres will be closed and service users have been written to. Staff will contact/visit the most vulnerable of these patients.
Day Centres affected include – Antrim Day Centre; Armour Day Centre , Ballymoney; Cookstown Day Centre; Inniscoole Day Centre, Newtownabbey; Larne Day Centre; Maghera Day Centre; Magherafelt Day Centre; Rosebrook House, Coleraine; Wilson House Day Centre, Broughshane. The trust expects that domiciliary care services will be provided.
All adult mental health and learning disability centres will also be closed and service users have been written to. Centres affected include Antrim Adult Centre; New Way Adult Centre, Newtownabbey; Cookstown Adult Centre; Drumross Adult Centre; George Sloane Centre, Ballymena; Hawthorns Adult Centre, Carrickfergus; Larne Adult Centre; Magherafelt Adult Centre; Millbrook Resource Centre, Ballymoney; Mountfern Centre, Coleraine; Rathmoyle Resource Centre, Ballycastle.
Translink, which operates bus and train services, said that due to industrial action by Unite, GMB, TSSA and SIPTU, it will not be possible to operate any scheduled bus or rail services tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Conservatives’ chairman, Irwin Armstrong, has spoken of his “enormous respect” for public sector workers, but warned that union leaders are drawing their members into “an irresponsible, selfish and futile strike which will hurt the economy and the vulnerable”.
“Seventy-five per cent of ordinary union members do not back this action, but union bosses are ordering them out of work nonetheless,” he said.
“The strike will cause schools, hospitals and public transport to grind to a halt across Northern Ireland, resulting in chaos and inconvenience for hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom will be among the most vulnerable in our society. There can be no justification whatsoever for this irresponsible course of action.”
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: South west
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