Tens of thousands of public sector workers made history on January 18th, on what was the largest single day of strike action ever in NI. Unions attended rallies in Belfast and Belfast, Derry, Omagh, Magherafelt, and Enniskillen.
Many of the workers have not had a pay increase for 3 years and took to the streets to express their frustration. It's estimated 170,000 workers including teachers, civil servants, healthcare workers, and bus and train drivers were involved in the strike. Hundreds of school workers, caterers, cleaners, classroom assistants, and road gritter operatives joined the action in freezing weather conditions. Watch the video of the Belfast rally here :
https://x.com/NIC_ICTU/status/1749458265426071646?s=20
General Secretary Owen Reidy said, that public service workers in Northern Ireland are being used as political pawns by this discredited Tory government. Many of these workers have not had a pay increase for 3 years, despite the post-COVID situation and the cost of living crisis. The money is available but workers are being held to ransom. This is unacceptable and not sustainable. They are standing up for public services, their jobs, and the citizens who use public services that have been under-resourced for some time.
Assistant General Secretary Gerry Curran said, The short-term priority is a long overdue pay increase to offset inflation – and then there is a long-term need for a new budget arrangement that ensures that NI is properly resourced to provide the public services people need for their health and prosperity.
