ROAD Service maintenance workers have begun a seven-day strike action as the union members seek changes to their terms and conditions.
Unite the Union and GMB members took to the picket lines on Monday morning demanding productivity payment to be integrated into pay scales to remove potential mechanism for pay victimisation.
More than 200 Unite members employed by the Roads Service are taking part in the strike action. The action follows a ballot of Unite members which returned a 95.30 percent vote for strike.
The strike action will affect roads maintenance work across the North. The action comes after thousands of education and health workers took part in strike action in disputes over pay last week.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham pledged her union’s full support for the Roads Service workers.
“No worker should be subject to bullying and harassment in their place of work. This productivity payment must be integrated into workers’ pay and not subject to the whims of managers. Unite stands fully behind our members in Roads Service who are striking for dignity in their place of work.”
Lead regional officer for Roads Service workers Gareth Scott explained the context for the strike.
“Our members in Roads Service are dependent on the allocation of productivity-based duties in order to make bonus, which leaves them subject to potentially less favourable treatment from managers," he said. "The workers feel that management have weaponised the bonus scheme, a situation which is intolerable.
“It is now clear that this bonus scheme is broken beyond repair and management’s refusal to integrate this productivity mechanism into pay scales has left the workforce with no alternative but to take strike action. Those taking strike action perform a vital role maintaining road standards and safety. The responsibility for the impact of this strike resides with the intransigence of management.”
