A trade union strike brought public transport to a standstill on Thursday.
School support workers have also been picketing in protests over pay.
The industrial action comes as Northern Ireland debates a bill that could lead to the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive in the coming days.
The UK government promised funding to cover public sector pay deals if Mr Stormont returned, but unions did not call off the strike.
The strikers include more than 3,000 public transport workers from the Unite, Shiptu and GMB trade unions.
Approximately 800 Unite members employed by the Education Agency (EA) as non-teaching staff have also resigned.
This includes school bus transportation staff, school lunch servers, administrative staff and classroom assistants, who will also be in action on Friday.
Workers on strike in Enniskillen
Thursday marks the sixth day of action since December for transport workers who have warned that further action could follow.
Unions are calling on Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to release funding to enable Stormont to increase wages for public sector workers.
Mr Heaton-Harris said this was a devolved issue and promised funding would be made available once the executive was in place.
But some unions have said they will continue striking until Stormont stands up.
Unite’s Davey Thompson said: “Until there is a government in NI, there is no government in NI” and said the deal was “not enough” to end the strike.
He told BBC NI’s Good Morning Ulster program that he believed previous strike action had “added some impetus to the political debate”.
Mr Thompson also said that while “the devil is in the details”, little is still known about public sector pay bonuses.
“The action will continue today. We will pause tomorrow to assess the situation, and we hope to see the end of the tunnel by next week,” he said.
Thompson added that despite this, “there is not enough money going around.”
Members unite to strike at Short Strand bus station on December 15th
Northern Ireland has not had a devolved government since February 2022.
But this week, the Democratic Unionist Party announced it would end the boycott after reaching an agreement with the UK government to address post-Brexit trade concerns.
The Northern Ireland Parliament is expected to convene after the bill is passed, likely on Friday or Saturday.
Business impact
Industry body Retail NI said it welcomed progress in Stormont’s recovery and called on trade unions to call off the strike “as a gesture of goodwill”.
Both retail and hospitality groups criticized public transport workers for going on strike in the run-up to Christmas, traditionally the busiest season.
In response to its latest February action, TransLink said it “remains committed to entering into constructive wage negotiations.”
“We urge our colleagues to reconsider this industrial action, which unfortunately further disrupts the bus and rail services that so many passengers rely on and exacerbates the financial pressure on Translink.”
DUP leader Sir Geoffrey Donaldson spoke to education union representatives outside Hillsborough Castle.
A Ministry of Infrastructure spokesperson said: “Delays are expected during the strike period and people are advised to allow extra time for travel.”
“Bus lanes will remain open during industrial action for bicycles, motorbikes, authorized taxis, buses in service (which may include buses provided by health and education authorities), and emergency services. Bus lanes Enforcement will continue as usual.”
Regarding the education strike, an EA spokesperson said: “This action is likely to cause disruption to EA transport (yellow buses), some school meals and cleaning services.”
It added: “The availability of classroom assistants will also be affected and, very unfortunately, a small number of schools will be forced to close their doors to students.”
Officials announced that their request for exemption for special needs school staff was denied.
Their statement continued: “All of our staff deserve to be paid a fair wage for the good work they do, but there are challenges to achieving this in the face of inadequate education budgets. I am aware of that,” he said.
The EA warned that the public transport strike would also affect children’s ability to attend school.
It said more than 57,000 children and young people who receive bus passes would be affected, as well as students who pay the fare.