NI transport unions warn of possible strike action over pay next week

​The three unions involved in the ongoing dispute – Unite, the GMB and Siptu – have told Translink bosses that the 72-hour action will cover next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (27-29 February).

According to the unions, no negotiations have been taking place and, unless an acceptable offer was made within days, the industrial action would go ahead as planned.

However, a spokesperson for Translinks said they were continuing to engage with the trade unions.

"Services are scheduled to operate as normal at present," the spokesperson told the BBC.

Transport workers and school support staff had suspended strike action earlier this month in the hope that the recently re-established NI Executive would act quickly to agree a suitable pay award.

It is understood that the workers in the education sector are also unhappy at the lack of progress and, like the transport workers, are contemplating fresh strike action.

Education Minister Paul Givan has said that the current public sector budget is not enough to make a pay offer.

On Tuesday, junior doctors in Northern Ireland also said they planned to stage a 24-hour walkout on March 6.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said junior doctors have had 16 years of pay erosion, amounting to more than 30% loss of pay.

Some 97.6% of junior doctors backed the strike action, which the BMA said showed they had no other choice.

Health Minister Robin Swann has appealed for the BMA to reconsider – saying it will “impact heavily on patients”.

He added: “I fully understand and sympathise with the frustration of junior doctors over both pay and the relentless pressure on services.

“My plea is that this frustration should not spill into industrial action that cannot achieve anything of substance”.

In November 2023, teaching unions announced five separate days of strike action as part of a long-running dispute over pay.