Northern Ireland travel warning as road workers to take to picket lines
Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure, which handles transportation and the roads network, has urged the public to avoid travel on Thursday's day of mass strike action.
Officials have said gritting, incident response, MOT and driving tests are among its services facing significant disruption on 18 January 2024.
Thousands of workers across multiple sectors are to strike on Thursday demanding pay rises given to workers in other parts of the UK are introduced in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Health has already urged people to try and not use its services as it anticipates never-before-seen disruption due to the strike. And on Monday the chief executives of NI's health and social care trusts warned of "massive disruption on an unprecedented scale".
They called it a “tragedy” that staff feel they have no action but to strike and called for them to be given a pay award matching the rest of the UK.
They have said services will be at a Christmas day level "at best".
In a statement, the Department for Infrastructure said it would not know the full extent of disruption to services until Thursday.
"With cold weather being forecast for this week, the industrial action will cause disruption to our winter gritting service. If the current weather warnings remain in place, we would advise people to avoid travel, if possible, on Thursday, 18 January 2024," the statement added.
"Where people need to travel, drivers and other road users will need to take particular care on Thursday and Friday given the potential for icy conditions and ongoing disruption to gritting. "Where possible, contingency plans are being put in place, but it is expected that there will be widespread disruption."
The department said the following services will be affected:
Winter service – gritting of the road network
Repair of serious infrastructure defects such as manhole collapse or potholes
Prioritisation of assistance to those incidents with most impact to life and property;
Response and clear-up operation when there are incidents on the road such as oil spills or unexpected debris;
Drainage infrastructure clearing and cleansing
MOT services and driving tests
Strangford Ferry services
Significantly reduce our capacity to respond to flood emergencies
Significant delays in responding to calls to the flood incident line.
A statement continued: "The work done by the department's staff is a constant, vital but often unseen aspect of the day-to-day functioning of society and its value becomes very visible when it is not available, particularly on the road network.
"Without people to deliver these essential services, there is limited mitigation possible to preserve the normal protection to road users. "We will not know the precise number of staff available until the days of strike action which means it could be Thursday morning before the full impact will be known and understood.
"The department will, however, only be able to deliver a fraction of its normal gritting service. "The Department also appreciates the additional impact that other aspects of industrial disputes will have on 18 January.
"Our colleagues in the Department of Health have advised people to take sensible steps to reduce their chances of requiring their services on the day. Similarly, we would ask that, where possible, people think carefully about whether they need to travel – particularly if temperatures drop below freezing as currently forecast. "We will be keeping our advice to the public under review as the week progresses and the weather forecast becomes more certain. Following the day of action, members of the GMB and Unite unions will continue with a week of industrial action until 26 January 2024. This will impact on gritting services. "Members of the public should continue to report defects on the road network using NI Direct: Problems with roads and streets on NI Direst," the department said. "At all times anyone travelling on the roads is advised to exercise caution. "Given wider pressures on public finances, it has not been possible to make a pay offer to staff and the Department acknowledges the deep frustration of staff at this situation. We look forward to the resolution of this situation and apologise for any inconvenience to the public in the meantime."
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