Council strike impasse due to ‘elected members’: union

A trade unionist has said progress is being made in talks to end a strike in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon council but has taken aim at councillors for “prolonging the impasse”.

Kevin Kelly, from the trade union Nipsa, pointed to the DUP in particular as having held up negotiations — an accusation the party has rejected.

As things stand, the strike by members of the Unite and GMB trade unions, and industrial action short of a strike by Nipsa members, is set to continue into a fourth week but Mr Kelly was upbeat about the prospect of a resolution being found sooner rather than later.

“There has been some movement in relation to the harmonisation of terms and conditions,” he told the News Letter.

“They [the employers] are going to recognise and resolve the detriment which will put some money into the pockets of those who are affected. We have resolved that.

“They have come to us with a lump sum, and it is getting close to a figure that we could potentially put to our members, but we are still at an impasse in relation to incremental progression which we see as an essential part of the dispute.

“Nothing can be agreed until everything can be agreed, but there is movement.

“The current impasse is being caused by elected members who won’t give members the scope to talk about recurring monies.

“In particular, one particular party believe they shouldn’t be dealing with this issue, and that it should be dealt with by the NJC.

“We have always had the potential to discuss incremental progression.”

Asked which party he was referring to, Mr Kelly said it was the “largest party on the council”. The largest party, the DUP, hit back at the suggestion it was behind the hold-up.

DUP councillor Mark Baxter said: “It is not true, and I’ll say that very clearly.

“There was a confidential meeting of council on this issue, and it was actually a DUP proposal to give officers further tools to bring a resolution to this issue. The accusation is a very serious one, and it is unfounded.

“There is an offer on the table, for the unions, that they could take back to their members very easily.”

A strike by members of Unite, meanwhile, in Lisburn and Castlereagh Council will take place from Tuesday onwards.