More strikes over pay dispute planned

Three major Jobs and Benefits Offices in Northern Ireland will be been shut down this week as striking civil servants continue their long running dispute over pay.

Up to 300 members of NIPSA from the offices at Lisnagelvin and Foyle in Londonderry and at Newtownabbey join the ongoing extended strike action by key groups of civil service staff which has already caused widespread disruption to the business of Government Departments.

The Lisnagelvin and Foyle offices in Derry are closed from today (Monday) and the Newtownabbey office will be shut down from tomorrow (Tuesday) after six NIPSA members were suspended from duty last week.

Social security operations in Lurgan, Newry and the Pensions Centre in Derry were all hit by the strikes while the Belfast Office of Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal was also forced to close adding to the huge backlog of cases awaiting Tribunal hearing.

NIPSA's General Secretary, John Corey warned that there would be no let-up in the industrial action until negotiations achieved a resolution of the dispute acceptable to members. He said: "Members have been supporting this industrial action campaign for over three months and hundreds of members have been involved in rolling selective strike action for over seven weeks. There has been ample time to negotiate a fair resolution of this dispute.

It was confirmed that two meetings took place last week between senior officials of the Department of Finance and Personnel but without progress being made towards a resolution of the dispute.

(MB)