Northern Ireland public transport strike: ​Strikes ‘won’t help workers get pay deal’

Members of trade unions Unite, GMB and Siptu are striking over a “pay freeze” amounting to a real-term 11% pay cut.

All bus and rail drivers are on strike following a previous one-day strike earlier this month.

Retail NI CEO Glyn Roberts and Hospitality Ulster CEO Colin Neill have jointly warned that this is “a make or break Christmas” for many of their members, who are still trying to recover from Covid and the cost-of-living crisis.

“It is obviously deeply disappointing that these strikes are going ahead,” Mr Roberts told the News Letter.

“They will cause significant damage and disruption to our local high streets.

“Given that public sector pay is part of the ongoing Hillsborough talks, this industrial action should be paused until the discussions conclude.

“Targeting retail and hospitality businesses in this way will not help Translink workers secure a fair deal for pay.”

Sorcha Wolsey, operations manager at the Beannchor Group in Belfast, said they are braced to lose almost all their day-time hospitality trade during the 48-hour strike.

Her group owns leading hospitality venues in Belfast such as the Merchant Hotel, Bullitt Hotel, The Dirty Onion, The National, Little Wing Pizzerias as well as Jenny Watts in Bangor and The Hillside in Hillsborough.

“Today would normally be a day where people would finish work early and do some shopping and have lunch and drinks with their work colleagues,” she said.

“But I think anybody who can work from home will work from home instead, so all of that sort of casual trade will just be non-existent. We expect Saturday to be very similar.”

Much of the hospitality sector is still recovering from Covid and the cost-of-living crisis, she said.

“There will be businesses who have just been waiting for December to generate that little bit of extra revenue to keep them going through January and February. But without that kind of boost there will be some businesses that may really feel the squeeze come January.”

GMB regional organiser for Translink, Peter Macklin, said that at the beginning of the month Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris denied he had any powers to deliver a pay rise for his members, but this week tabled a fresh financial package to address the strikes.

He added: “While that has been universally rejected, his actions show that he has had the power all along to intervene and address our members’ pay claim.”

A Northern Ireland Office spokesperson said it is for NI departments to make final decisions on pay policies and that the UK government has “no authority” to negotiate.

The secretary of state has invited the five largest parties to discuss how government will work with them to “stabilise the finances of a returning executive” they said.

“These discussions are centred on how the UK government can help with and support sustainability in Northern Ireland’s public finances for when an executive is restored.”