Action ‘to protest againstpension changes’

NEXT Wednesday’s strike will see council workers in Lisburn take to the streets to protest at plans by central government to alter public sector pension arrangements.

Nigel Gregg, the senior Unite representative at Lisburn City Council and Chairman of the Local Authority Sector Committee, said that members in Lisburn were recently balloted on the issue and the membership unanimously agreed to take industrial action.

Mr Gregg has warned that services for local people will be disrupted next week, including bin collections, leisure services, street cleansing and possibly grave services. However, he is hopeful that local people will be understanding and support members in their action.

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Local Unite members have held negotiations with Lisburn City Council in order to minimise disruption. They have also held discussions with local community groups, including those in Old Warren and Colin Neighbourhood, seeking their support.

“There will be disruption for local people,” explained Mr Gregg. “We know it is an inconvenience but we hope people will understand why we are doing it.”

A spokesperson for the community group in Old Warren said the group supported the Unite workers.

“Following consultation with our membership and a series of meetings with the trade union Unite it has been agreed that we will offer our support to all the public sector workers taking part in industrial action on Wednesday.

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“It is accepted that any form of industrial action will cause inconvenience to our communities and goes against the grain and ethos of community development but with assurances that disruption will be kept to a minimum we offer our support. The cuts and changes to public sector pensions have been imposed by the Westminster Government and if implemented will have a detrimental effect on our entire community,” he concluded.

Lisburn Sinn Fein Councillor Angela Nelson said her party would also be supporting the workers. “Sinn Féin supports the right of workers to withdraw their labour,” she said.

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