Joint Transport Trade Union side press release

Representatives and officials of three trade unions representing frontline bus and rail workers met yesterday and agreed unanimously to proceed with an industrial ballot, including for action up to and including strike, of their members over pay. All three unions will ballot their members working in Ulsterbus, Metro and the Glider. GMB and SIPTU will ballot members working in Northern Ireland Rail.

All three trade unions have now given seven-day notice of the pending strike ballots to Translink, northern Ireland’s public transport provider and the ballots will open from 30^th October closing on 17^th November (GMB and SIPTU) and 16^th November (Unite).

If members of the three trade unions vote for industrial action, the first possible date for strike action on bus and rail would be Friday December 1^st. Such coordinated industrial action by members of all three trade unions would be unprecedented in recent years and would bring to a standstill all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland.

The strike follows consultative processes in all three trade unions. Unite conducted a full consultative ballot of its bus worker membership which returned a 98% vote rejecting a zero percent pay offer by Translink management and demanding a ballot on industrial action.

Management at Translink have indicated that they are unable to offer any pay offer or a timetable for negotiations for an improved pay offer in light of the constrained funding for public transport. The situation has been precipitated as a result of the punitive budget imposed on the Department for Infrastructure by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris in the absence of a functioning Stormont Executive.

All three unions are proceeding with an industrial ballot but are due to participate, alongside Translink management, in a crunch meeting with the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Infrastructure in coming days.

Unite the union’s General Secretary is Sharon Graham who commented.

“Our members voted overwhelmingly by 98.5% to reject management’s insulting zero percent pay offer. We are now encouraging members to vote for industrial action up to and including strike action to win a proper pay increase.

“Bus and rail public transport services have been underfunded and undervalued by Stormont for years. The brutal budget cuts imposed by Chris Heaton-Harris on Northern Ireland public services have brought about this dispute by directly impacting our members. He needs to recognise that public transport workers and their unions stand in a united front in defence of public transport services and our members’ jobs, pay and terms and conditions.”

Speaking for GMB, Regional Officer Peter Macklin said,

“Our members simply refuse to be anyone’s pawns. Their pay should not be subject to a sanctions budget imposed by the Secretary of State due to the failure of politicians at Stormont. Zero percent is simply unacceptable and means a very severe real terms reduction in pay for frontline bus and rail workers. 

“We are encouraging members to vote Yes for industrial action and Yes for industrial action short of strike action to send the strongest possible signal to those in authority that we won’t be trampled on.”

SIPTU’s Regional Organiser Niall McNally spoke for his members.

“Northern Ireland’s bus and rail services perform a vital role getting children to school, people to work and allowing people to shop, socialise and attend medical appointments. A few years ago, those who provide these services were being lauded as heroes but now they are being threatened by a crushing real-terms pay cut.

“If our members go out this will bring bus and rail services to a standstill and will have a huge wider impact both socially and economically. The actions of Chris Heaton-Harris in imposing harsh austerity budgets on departments are solely responsible for this situation but our members will not allow themselves to be abused like this.”