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Some NI Water staff suspend strike after pay offer

Getty Images A person pouring water into a glass from a tap. One hand is holding the glass whilst the other turns the tap. In the background the rest of the silver sink, a black pan and the stone windowsill is seen.Getty Images
The pay offer includes a 5% pay increase and a one-off payment of £1,500

Some workers at NI Water have suspended strike action following a pay offer from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).

The strike was due to take place next week, with officials from union Unite warning it could be "devastating" for consumers.

About 250 workers who are members of Unite will not strike while they are balloted on the proposed pay offer, which includes a 5% pay increase and a one-off payment of £1,500.

They say this provides water workers with the same increase as all other civil servants received for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

About 100 members of the GMB workers at NI Water are still being balloted on strike action as part of the pay dispute.

Unite regional officer Joanne McWilliams said workers had been waiting for 21 months "for a pay increase all other civil servants have already received".

"Disgracefully it took the threat of industrial action at the heart of winter by low-paid water workers to break the ministerial log-jam holding up this money," she said.

NI Water workers last took part in strike action from December 2014 until January 2015.

A subsequent review stated there was "significant disruption to water supply in parts of Northern Ireland" which "resulted in consumers losing their water supply".