Massive traffic disruption is expected in Northern Ireland as trade union strikes continue on Thursday.
Thousands of bus and train drivers continue to strike over pay despite the DUP’s agreement to rebuild Stormont.
The first of four planned strikes will take place Thursday.
School support workers are also on strike over pay. Translink drivers also went on strike before Christmas.
The strike follows last Thursday’s massive strike by 170,000 public sector workers, Northern Ireland’s largest.
The strikers include more than 3,000 public transport workers from the Unite, Shiptu and GMB trade unions, as well as around 800 Unite members employed as non-teaching staff by the Education Agency (EA).
This includes school bus transportation staff, school lunch servers, administrative staff, and classroom assistants.
Unions are asking Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to contribute around £600m to resolve a dispute that centers on workers in the north being paid less than their UK counterparts.
Heaton-Harris maintains that he has no legal authority to act and that pay is a matter of authority.
He announced last month that the money was available as part of a £3.3bn package for Northern Ireland, but was dependent on Stormont’s return.
Next month marks two years since DUP Prime Minister Paul Givan resigned from the power-sharing executive and Stormont collapsed.
A transport strike currently planned for Thursday in Northern Ireland is set to go ahead despite the DUP’s agreement to rebuild Stormont.
Three further industrial actions are scheduled for later this month.
GMB organizer Peter Macklin said on Tuesday: Thursday’s strike will be enforced. ”
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