NI civil servants to strike over pay

Thousands of civil servants in Northern Ireland are to go on strike next month, it was announced tonight.

Public services in the North are set to experience major disruption after unions voted overwhelmingly in favour of a one-day action.

More than four-fifths of 20,000 staff employed by British government departments backed the call for a stoppage on December 11 as part of a pay dispute.

John Corey, general secretary of the union Nipsa, said: “These massive votes by members in support of industrial action reflect the anger of staff at the way they have been treated.

“We warned that civil servants would not accept unfair and discriminatory treatment of their 2003 pay increase but civil service management and ministers did not listen to us.

“Now members have been forced to take strike action to secure a fair and reasonable pay settlement.”