NIPSA claims Justice Minister Naomi Long avoiding last ditch meeting to resolve Twelfth July strike by civilian PSNI staff
Some 1500 civilian PSNI staff due to strike on the Twelfth have claimed the Justice Minister is declining to attend a last-ditch round table meeting to resolve the dispute.
Police civilian staff are calling for the delivery of an uplift to their £580 annual Revised Environmental Allowance (REA) also known as "danger money", that was promised five years ago.
In comparison, PSNI officers currently receive just under £4,000 annually in acknowledgement of the ongoing terror threat.
Civilian staff are seeking to have their allowance increased to around £1,000. They work in roles such as call handling, forensics, custody suites, and admin roles.
NIPSA says they make up 25% of the PSNI and that 91% voted for strike action with 96% voting for action short of strike.
The union said members feel they are under threat and undervalued, and are working in an “effectively created two-tier workforce” due to the disparities in pay and terms and conditions.
NIPSA began action short of striking at the beginning of July and will strike for 24 hours from 00:01 on July 11 to 00:01 on 12 July.
The union says it has already met with the Department of Justice, the Chief Constable and the NI Policing Board (NIPB) in an attempt to get an agreement.
It met Justice Minister Naomi Long on 20 June and had "a transparent and positive meeting" it said.
The union was confident that the information given provided the basis of a resolution, which it then took to the Chief Constable and Policing Board.
"Unfortunately, Minister Long is now disputing our recollection of our discussion with her," the union said.
"NIPSA finds this surprising, given that we have fully briefed the minister on the potential issues which could affect policing during industrial action.
“The Department of Justice is aware of the financial cost, the potential danger to the public and the danger to our officer colleagues and other blue light agencies that this pending industrial action could bring but have refused to engage further on the issue.
"NIPSA requested an urgent round table meeting with the Justice Minister, to include the Chief Constable and the NIPB management, to take place on Wednesday 3rd of July, with a view to resolving the dispute.
"To date, the Justice Minister has declined to attend the meeting, despite all other parties agreeing to the meeting."
The PSNI responded that it will mitigate disruption from strike action..
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable, Melanie Jones said: “Planning is underway to mitigate any risk in critical functions in the event of staff absences as a result of this industrial action. I want to reassure the public that we will have the resources in place to allow us to keep people safe.”
Speaking about the issue in April, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the workers had been “let down” due to the failure to pay out the uplift promised in 2019.
He had undertaken to pay the increase, he told the Policing Board, but understandably, Justice Minister Naomi Long felt that “we still can’t show the affordability for that” he said.
In March the minister said the PSNI "has not demonstrated that the uplift is affordable" and said more clarity was needed on PSNI budgets and the business case for the uplift.
The minister has been invited to respond.