Northern Ireland council strikes: Two more unions ballot members on possible industrial action

Staff in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council who are members of the Nipsa and GMB trade unions are being asked if they are willing to go on strike over pay and terms and conditions.

Ballots in other council areas could also be “imminent” unless ongoing talks progress favourably, an official with Nipsa has told the News Letter.

A GMB official, meanwhile, said there is potential for further ballots in other areas in the near future.

This is in addition to the strike action announced by the Unite trade union for its members in the Derry City and Strabane Council earlier this week. Unite has been engaged in a dispute with all 11 councils for some time, and its members had taken strike action on various dates over the spring and summer this year.

That dispute remains ongoing although, prior to announcing that its members in the Derry and Strabane will strike for four weeks from July 18 to August 14, industrial action had been suspended to allow talks to take place.

A trade union source told the News Letter strike action by Unite members remains a possibility at all 11 councils, but stressed that the pay offers being put forward differ between the individual councils and could therefore lead to different approaches in different councils.

The ballot in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon areas by Nipsa and GMB centres on a dispute on the soaring cost of living and what they say is a disparity in terms and conditions arising from the merger of the old council areas several years ago.

Nipsa officer Kevin Kelly told the News Letter the dispute had been “seven years in the making” with staff in some areas on different salary grades due to the failure to ‘harmonise’ terms and conditions across the whole council following the reform of local government in 2015 that saw the 26 old councils merged to form 11 new councils.

Mr Kelly said that, with the ballot having opened on Tuesday, the earliest possible date for strike action would be the middle of next month.

“Employers need to address the cost-of-living crisis but this is a dispute that has been seven years in the making – tiers 1-4 have all had their harmonisation but our members are still waiting.”

Alan Perry from the GMB union said: “Employers have failed to address the cost of living within the public sector, right across the board, and our members are struggling – with a number using food banks to survive.”