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Council staff begin strike action Council workers staging strike
(about 5 hours later)
Council employees and staff at other government bodies in Northern Ireland have begun a two-day strike action. Picket lines have formed outside council offices and public buildings in Northern Ireland, as local government workers start a two-day strike.
It is being taken across the UK in protest at a pay offer of 2.5%. Employers say across the UK, just under a quarter of workers are taking part in the action. But they claim the figure is lower in Northern Ireland.
Services hit include bin collections - areas where they will not be affected are Antrim, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Dungannon, Magherafelt and Moyle. The strike is being taken in protest at a pay offer of 2.5%.
Leisure and community centres will be closed and many children's summer schemes have been postponed. Belfast Zoo is closed to the public. The number of councils saying their bin collections will be unaffected has increased from earlier in the day.
The scale of the strike will only become apparent during the day, but there is the potential for libraries, council offices and home care services to be affected as well. Antrim, Armagh, Ards, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Magherafelt, Moyle and Omagh are all reporting normal service.
There will be no flights in or out of the City of Derry airport. Derry City Council owns the airport and its staff are on the two-day strike. Many leisure centres have shut down.
Thousands of members of the Unite union say a pay increase of 2.45% is not enough.
However, the local government association says the offer is final.
Unions argue that with the cost of living becoming more and more expensive, their members need an increase of 6%.
But the employers say frontline services could be cut if salaries were to increase. They also point out the unions are split on the issue - the GMB union has accepted the pay deal.
Is your council hit by the strike?Is your council hit by the strike?
Trevor Salmon, director of corporate services with Belfast City Council, said it was hard to predict what support the strike would have. The City of Derry airport is closed as is Belfast Zoo.
"What we do know is certain essential services such as burials, cremations and weddings which have been long in the planning will go ahead as planned," he said. The housing executive said it had plans for low staff numbers this week anyway, due to the Twelfth. It is maintaining essential services but its offices in west Belfast, Londonderry and Ballycastle have closed.
"There will be disruption of our leisure centre and our community centres - we think 50% of those will be disrupted or closed. Belfast Zoo has been closed due to the strike
"The biggest disruption of course is going to be the bin collections - we calculate that some 54,000 households will be affected." All libraries are closed in Belfast, while all are open in the North Eastern area. Across Northern Ireland the picture is mixed, with customers being advised to check first.
Jimmy Kelly, Unite Irish regional secretary, said: "Unite calls on the Stormont government to fund local government properly." Albert Mills of the Unite union said he hoped the strike would "send a signal to employers 'get round the table, let's talk, let's resolve these issues'. We want to resolve it and we need to resolve it.
The union wants workers to be paid what it describes as "a decent living wage". "So we're asking them to do the decent thing and get round the table."
"We call on councillors and MLAs who support our members' demands to join us on on the picket lines. They will be made very welcome." The Local Government Association has said the strike is regrettable, but the 2.45% pay increase is their best and final offer.
Union members say that is not enough.
Unions argue that with the cost of living becoming more and more expensive, their members need an increase of 6%.
But employers say frontline services could be cut if salaries were to increase. They also point out the unions are split on the issue - the GMB union has accepted the pay deal.