Around 170,000 teachers, doctors, transporters and other public workers went on a 24-hour strike this Thursday, January 18, the largest called in that territory in 50 years. Many of them took to the streets of Belfast to demand a pay rise equivalent to what has been implemented in other parts of the United Kingdom. The protests also fall on the autonomous government of the region, which has remained inoperative since 2022 after the unionists' rejection of certain Brexit measures.
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The political crisis in Northern Ireland is tiring workers. The pickets of thousands of public employees, who represent close to 80% of the total, stopped daily activities this Thursday, January 18 in the capital of this territory – which is part of the United Kingdom, but with an autonomous government -.
Closing of schools, blocking roads and canceling medical appointments in hospitals, which are only accepting emergency cases, are some of the effects of a 24-hour strike by public workers.
The strike, which has managed to unite 16 unions, aims to demand from London a wage increase in line with the inflation rates in the area, something that has already happened in all other regions of the United Kingdom.
From Westminster they allege that the funds for the salary increase are already ready, but that the lack of an Executive Branch in Belfast prevents the policy from materializing.
The political crisis dates back to 2022, when pro-British unionists left the Government due to its rejection of the Brexit Protocol for Northern Ireland.
This Thursday's strike coincided with the deadline imposed by the British minister for the region, Chris Heaton-Harris, for the parties – the pro-British unionists and the Irish nationalists – to form a power-sharing government before midnight.
“This package has been on the table since before Christmas and will remain there, available on day one for an incoming Executive in Northern Ireland“, mentioned Chris Heaton-Harris, in reference to an economic package of about 3.3 billion pounds (about 4.1 billion dollars), destined to increase the salaries of public workers in the region.
Despair with pro-British unionists
The strikers claim that both London and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are using them as chips in their negotiations over the parameters of Brexit, an issue that has caused the governance crisis in Northern Ireland and has kept the Executive branch of the Union inactive. region from 2022, after the departure of the unionists from the government.
“There are a very small number of people in the DUP who are preventing this (salary increases) from going ahead,” said David Roberts, an Irish teacher, adding that it is his first strike in his 28-year career as a teacher in the sector. public.
The Good Friday peace agreements, signed in 1998, stipulate that the devolved government must always be made up of the two main political branches of Northern Ireland: the pro-British unionists and the Irish nationalists.
However, months before the election of nationalist Sinn Féin in May 2022, the unionist wing left the self-government over disagreements with the Brexit protocol for the region. Now, workers are pushing for the DUP to return to government so their salaries can rise.
With AP, EFE and Reuters
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