Following last week’s ballot of members on Ulsterbus, Metro and Glider services, Unite the union has today notified Translink management that its members are to commence a 24-hour strike from 00.01 on Friday 1 December.

Unite is the largest union at Translink and represents more than half the company’s workforce. The strike will mean no bus services operate on the day of the strike. 

The strike action is a result of Translink attempting to force a pay freeze on its workers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members have been left with no alternative but to take strike action. Trying to instigate a pay freeze is never acceptable, to do so during the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation is abhorrent.

“The Translink workers will have the full support of Unite in their fight to win a fair pay deal.”

Unite’s regional officer for Translink, Albert Hewitt, said:  “Action by our members will mean that there are no bus services operating by Ulsterbus, Citybus or Glider that day.

“This is only the first in a series of strikes planned by our members over the coming weeks. Unless management returns to the negotiating table with an offer of a real-terms pay increase, our members will be left with no alternative but to escalate industrial action to defend their incomes.“