Belfast: Massive disruption expected Northern Ireland Tens of thousands of public sector workers are striking over wages on Thursday.
There is no end in sight to the long-term political crisis As a result, the UK states have remained without devolved government for almost two years.
Around 3pm Union Organizers said the rally will be attended by representatives of teachers, civil servants, nurses and transport workers.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions predicts that 170,000 of its 220,000 public sector union members will walk off the job to demand the release of withheld funds. salary increase.
The mass strike, which unions claim is the biggest day of concerted action since Northern Ireland was founded in 1921, is likely to wreak havoc on an already crumbling public service.
Hundreds of service workers who salt roads during the winter season are expected to take part in the strike, which coincides with the arrival of a cold snap that will see schools closed and transport suspended.
Officials said essential and emergency medical care will remain available, but medical services will be significantly depleted.
The strike is estimated to have the potential to cost the economy more than 10 million pounds ($12.6 million) and comes as the region approaches a two-year milestone in political deadlock.
In February 2022, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest pro-British party, withdrew from the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont, arguing that post-Brexit trade rules would undermine Northern Ireland’s standing in the UK as a whole. did.
The DUP lost its position as Northern Ireland’s largest party in the 2022 election, handing over the power-sharing executive’s first ministerial post to nationalist Sinn Féin, which wants a united Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said on Monday that a 3.3 billion pound ($4.2 billion) package presented to the parties last month would be made available, subject to parliament resuming.
But on Wednesday, lawmakers failed to elect a speaker for the seventh time after none of the candidates received the necessary support as the legal deadline for the return approaches Thursday.
Heaton-Harris said it was “disappointing” that a speaker had not been elected and said she would pass legislation to extend the deadline rather than hold new parliamentary elections.
Of the planned £3.3bn package, £584m will go towards public sector pay rises.
Major unions say funding for pay increases should be released as soon as possible, regardless of the parliamentary suspension.
But the DUP has accused London of using the industrial revolution as leverage to end the party’s boycott.
DUP leader Geoffrey Donaldson said the British government in London had the funds and powers to implement the payout immediately.
There is no end in sight to the long-term political crisis As a result, the UK states have remained without devolved government for almost two years.
Around 3pm Union Organizers said the rally will be attended by representatives of teachers, civil servants, nurses and transport workers.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions predicts that 170,000 of its 220,000 public sector union members will walk off the job to demand the release of withheld funds. salary increase.
The mass strike, which unions claim is the biggest day of concerted action since Northern Ireland was founded in 1921, is likely to wreak havoc on an already crumbling public service.
Hundreds of service workers who salt roads during the winter season are expected to take part in the strike, which coincides with the arrival of a cold snap that will see schools closed and transport suspended.
Officials said essential and emergency medical care will remain available, but medical services will be significantly depleted.
The strike is estimated to have the potential to cost the economy more than 10 million pounds ($12.6 million) and comes as the region approaches a two-year milestone in political deadlock.
In February 2022, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest pro-British party, withdrew from the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont, arguing that post-Brexit trade rules would undermine Northern Ireland’s standing in the UK as a whole. did.
The DUP lost its position as Northern Ireland’s largest party in the 2022 election, handing over the power-sharing executive’s first ministerial post to nationalist Sinn Féin, which wants a united Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said on Monday that a 3.3 billion pound ($4.2 billion) package presented to the parties last month would be made available, subject to parliament resuming.
But on Wednesday, lawmakers failed to elect a speaker for the seventh time after none of the candidates received the necessary support as the legal deadline for the return approaches Thursday.
Heaton-Harris said it was “disappointing” that a speaker had not been elected and said she would pass legislation to extend the deadline rather than hold new parliamentary elections.
Of the planned £3.3bn package, £584m will go towards public sector pay rises.
Major unions say funding for pay increases should be released as soon as possible, regardless of the parliamentary suspension.
But the DUP has accused London of using the industrial revolution as leverage to end the party’s boycott.
DUP leader Geoffrey Donaldson said the British government in London had the funds and powers to implement the payout immediately.