Unions threaten further one-day strikes

UNIONS will close schools and shut down hospital services for at least a further day after next week’s strike, unless the Government offers guarantees on their members’ pay.

The first 24-hour strike is due to halt public services a week from today.

Yesterday, the chairman of the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) confirmed at least one more day of action could take place before budget day on December 9, unless the Government engages seriously on an alternative to cutting pay and imposing compulsory redundancies in order to reduce the €20bn public service pay bill by €1.3bn in 2010.