Education Authority notified of 48-hour strike by Unite members seeking pay and grading review

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Unite the union NI

Education Authority notified of 48-hour strike by Unite members seeking pay and grading review

Unite claims responsibility for industrial action escalation lies wholly on Department of Education for obstructive behaviour

This afternoon, Unite the union notified the Education Authority of a 48-hour strike action commencing at 00.01am on 15 November 2023. This marks an escalation of a dispute over the employers’ failure to deliver a negotiated pay and regrading review which led to workers commencing a work-to-rule on 23 October.

The strike is likely to cause significant disruption to many schools given the concentration of Unite membership in school bus transport, catering, admin, cleaning, classroom assistants and other roles. The strike follows a ballot of Unite’s membership which returned a 94 per cent majority for industrial action.

Other Education Authority support staff trade unions are coordinating industrial action on 16 November – including Unison who have a 24-hour strike and NIPSA which is conducting targeted strike action.

The strike is the latest development in Unite’s ongoing industrial dispute over the failure to deliver a pay and grading review to education workers as part of a negotiated resolution of the 2022 pay dispute.

Unite has argued that the pay and regrading review is needed to ensure staff retention. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is simply unacceptable that the Department of Education continues to renege on the implementation of a pay and grading review that has been negotiated by the Education Authority with Unite.

“As a matter of urgency, the Education Authority must secure the necessary funding to avoid further escalation of strike action in Northern Ireland’s education sector.”

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Vista Therm workers to commence new wave of industrial action tomorrow

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Unite the union NI

Strike action to recommence by the workforce at Vista Therm after Unite reballoted over management union-busting

Industrial action follows previous twelve-week strike for cost of living pay increase and union recognition

Unite the union has served notice on Vista Therm, a specialist glass manufacturer based at Silverwood Business Park, Craigavon that a new wave of industrial action by its members will commence with a 24-hour strike from 00.01am tomorrow, Monday [November 6th]. Workers will be establishing pickets outside the workplace from 7am to 8.30am in the morning and between 3pm and 4.30pm in the afternoon.

The latest action occurs after the union’s membership voted with a 97 per cent majority for strike action over management union-busting activities. During the previous period of strike action, management dismissed two young workers and suspended another two, including a Unite shop steward.

The Vista Therm workforce overwhelmingly comprises foreign nationals including a large majority of workers whose first language is Polish or Ukrainian. The industrial dispute represents a touchstone case for the wider exploitation of foreign national workers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Vista Therm workers are at the cutting edge of the fight to improve working conditions for foreign-national workers in Northern Ireland. The fact that this employer has engaged in brutal union-busting tactics will be challenged and defeated.

“The Vista Therm workers are to be commended for their commitment to defending their union and themselves. They can count on the full and continuing support of Unite in their fight.”

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Unions demand urgent meeting with Secretary of State in campaign for a pay increase for bus and rail workers

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Unite the union NI

Joint Unite-GMB-SIPTU News Release

DfI permanent secretary tells trade unions that inadequate budget leaves him unable to properly fund public transport

Unite, GMB and SIPTU members working in Translink continue to vote in unprecedented coordinated industrial ballot

A delegation of Translink workplace reps and union officers from Unite, GMB and SIPTU met with the permanent secretary of the Department for Infrastructure Denis McMahon this week (Wednesday 1 November). The delegation warned tht workers are set to vote for strike action over a proposed pay freeze by Translink management.

The permanent secretary expressed regret that he was unable to provide ‘clarity’ on a timeframe for improved public transport funding to allow bus and rail workers to receive a fair pay increase as his “department does not have the resources it needs”.

All three unions have now written to secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, who has responsibility for setting the budget for departments in the absence of a functioning Stormont executive. They are seeking a meeting on the funding of public transport services to allow for a pay increase for Translink workers. 

If transport workers vote for industrial action, industrial action could commence from early December. Any industrial action would bring Northern Ireland to a standstill and have a huge impact on the economy.

The anniversary date (when a pay increase was due) for these pay negotiations was April 2023 and the twelve-month inflation at that point using RPI – the most accurate measure – was 11 per cent. That means in real terms workers are facing more than a 11 per cent pay cut.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is entirely unacceptable that during the worst cost of living crisis in generations, public transport workers are faced with a pay freeze. Our members cannot bear such a burden. The secretary of state has to act and act immediately to avoid an escalating industrial dispute.”

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Unite the union secures pay deal worth 11% for Severfield workers

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Unite the union NI

Union members vote to accept deal and withdraw plans for strike at Fermanagh-based steel erector company

Unite the union members employed by Severfield, the UK’s largest specialist structural steel company, in Kesh, Co Fermanagh are celebrating the resolution of an ongoing pay dispute which was due to see strike action commence this week (Tuesday 31 October). 

The workers voted to accept a pay deal which in total will be worth up to 11.2 per cent over the year for most members, in addition workers will receive a one-off cost of living payment of £700. This brings to an end the industrial dispute and the planned industrial action.

The deal also includes a commitment to undertake a benchmarking exercise on the difference between pay at Fermanagh and with Severfield plant’s elsewhere within the UK. The pay agreement will also mean that all Unite members are automatically included in the bargaining unit for future pay negotiations – the next anniversary date being April 2024. 

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Public transport unions to meet DfI Permanent Secretary in crunch meeting as strike ballots open

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Unite the union NI

All three front-line public transport unions commence coordinated strike ballots members at Translink

A delegation of workforce reps and trade union officials are to meet Denis McMahon, Infrastructure Department permanent secretary tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon

Representatives of Unite, SIPTU and GMB will meet the permanent secretary of the Department for Infrastructure Denis McMahon at his offices at 14:00 on Wednesday, November 1 to discuss the potential for bus and rail workers to strike in the run up to Christmas.

Workers in all three unions are in dispute with their employer Translink over the company’s refusal to make a pay offer and instead attempt to instigate a pay freeze.

Translink management claims that they do not have the financial resources to make an improved pay offer due to the tight constraints on public transport funding by the Department for Infrastructure – an outcome forced by the ‘sanctions’ budget imposed on Northern Ireland Departments by Conservative secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris in the absence of a functioning executive.

All three unions began balloting their members for industrial action yesterday (Monday 30 October).

The strike ballots are due to close on Thursday 16 November (Unite) and Friday 17 November (GMB and SIPTU). The first possible date for strike action could be Friday 1 December. It is anticipated that any strike action would bring all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland to a standstill.

Sharon Graham general secretary of Unite said: “With inflation standing at 8.9 per cent, management is trying to inflict a massive real-terms pay cut on its workers. Translink workers keep Northern Ireland functioning they cannot and will not accept a huge attack on their pay.”

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