Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney has said bus and train staff deserve a fair pay deal.

Speaking as Unite, SIPTU and GMB announced staff will take to the picket lines on three separate occasions before Christmas, the party’s workers rights spokesperson said:

“Our bus and train staff deserve a fair pay deal and it is disgraceful they have to take to the picket lines once again for this basic right.

“It is completely unacceptable that the British Secretary of State Chris Heaton Harris has ignored union requests to discuss options to resolve this pay dispute. He is yet to even acknowledge the latest invitation to meet which was issued over a month ago. 

“Heartless Tory cuts have created this crisis and without the willingness to even meet the relevant trade unions, it is clear the responsibility for strike action lies solely with the British Secretary of State and his government.

“We need a new, properly-funded Executive that places workers and families at the top of its priority list. Public patience has run out. Workers cannot wait any longer.”