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Northern Ireland Housing Executive maintenance workers on strike reject pay offer
Maintenance workers at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) on strike have rejected a pay offer after months of industrial action has left thousands of repairs undone.
The NIHE offered a one-off cost of living payment of £1,000 for those earning up to £32,000, and £500 for all other staff.
But workers, who have been on strike over their pay offer since September, voted overwhelmingly against accepting the offer.
The workers include electricians, plumbers and joiners who are employed in North and West Belfast, Portadown, Coleraine, and Derry.
Unite the Union wrote to Grainia Long, chief executive of the NIHE, after its members rejected the pay offer.
The union said the strike has led to a “ballooning” impact on maintenance services for social homes.
It said that more than 4,400 repair and maintenance jobs judged to be ‘emergency’ have been left undone and a further 9,600 works deemed routine have not been completed.
More than 240 adaption jobs needed by disabled tenants are also outstanding.
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Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “These workers don’t want to be standing on picket lines but have been left no alternative because of the intransigence of management.
“These workers continued their strike right through the holiday period and while they want to get back to work they are determined to do so having won respect and a decent pay improvement.
“The well-paid Housing Executive directors and the senior officials in the Department for Communities must now intervene.
“They need to make a decent pay offer, end this dispute and the impact it is having both on my members and on vulnerable tenants.
“Their failure to do so to date is nothing short of a disgrace.”
A Housing Executive spokesperson said: “After five days of constructive talks with trade unions during November and December, facilitated through the Labour Relations Agency, we put a reasonable offer on the table.
“In addition to the national pay award of £1,925 for all staff, which was paid last month, we offered a one-off cost of living payment of £1,000 net for all staff earning up to £32,000, and £500 net for all other staff.
“Taking the national award and the additional £1,000 payment together, this amounts to a 9.7% increase for an electrician and 12.5% increase for a plumber for the year 2022-23.
“Our tenants pay for 70% of our staff salaries through their rents.
“In a cost of living crisis, our tenants would want to know that we are spending their money wisely.”
Michael Keenan, regional officer at Unite, said the 2022-23 pay offer has “nothing to do with this pay dispute”, which is about the 2021-22 financial year.
He added: “Regardless of whether they would have personally benefited from this offer, the workers have voted to stand together: more than 99% voted to reject this deal on a turnout of more than 93%.
“Skilled and trades housing workers are striking for a pay increase that will start to bridge the chasm between what the NIHE pays them and going industry rates.”
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