Some NI Water staff on strike over pay
BBCAbout 350 workers at NI Water have held a one-day strike in a dispute over pay arrangements and terms and conditions.
Members of the trade union Nipsa, who are mostly administrative staff, voted in favour of industrial action following a recent ballot.
Nipsa general secretary Carmel Gates said the strike was "a result of the fact that the management side from years ago introduced a new and very complex salary structure".
In a statement, NI Water said they had a pay offer ready and were encouraging Nipsa to "submit a pay claim for all non front-line employees to enable pay negotiations to commence without delay".
Workers will also begin action short of a strike on Thursday.
Bronagh Coughlan, who is a local branch chairperson, was on the picket line at NI Water headquarters in north Belfast. She said the union was prepared to continue action if workers were not happy with the outcome.
"It's being going on for a number of years – it's multi-faceted and we have an issue with some colleagues who haven't had a pay uplift in years," she told BBC News NI.
"Because of the new pay structure that's been introduced there are now, we believe, two bargaining units and they won't accept that," she added.
What has Nipsa said?
Ms Gates told BBC News NI that Nipsa represented administrative staff who look after IT in NI Water, and also those who test the water quality.
She said the new salary structure "changed the terms and conditions of workers and it means now that the workers doing the same job are being treated differently".
"The next stage of the action will depend on how management respond to our requests for negotiations to resolve the issue," Ms Gates added.
"We stand ready to resolve this dispute, to negotiate our way out, but that will require the management side accepting that we do need to negotiate for workers who have been put on separate terms and conditions."
Ms Gates said the impact of the strike can depend on the weather.
"Although our members are not the people who go out and fix leaks, they do all the background work that makes that happen so if they are not there then other work is affected. If our members aren't there to test water quality and look after the safety of the system it could cause difficulties, particularly if the weather takes a turn for the worse," she said.
"It's likely to be colder so that might change the impact that the strike action has," she said.
'Little choice' but to strike
Some NI Water staff also joined the picket line outside the Gelvin Grange depot in Londonderry on Wednesday morning.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, NIPSA committee member Paddy Harkin, who works as a laboratory scientist with NI Water, said the action their members voted on "included action short of strike", describing it as members "not doing anything outside of their job remit".
Mr Harkin said their members felt they had been left with little choice but to strike.
Mr Harkin said workers have been put into "two camps" when he said they all should be treated as one.
He said staff standing on the picket line and braving such cold conditions on New Year's Eve demonstrates the depth of feeling among workers.
What has NI Water said?
NI Water said they have "robust contingency planning arrangements in place and will seek to minimise the impact of any industrial action taken".
Rose Kelly from NI Water said: "Ministers Kimmins and O'Dowd have authorised pay awards in line with the wider public sector for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 that have been accepted by our front-line unions Unite and GMB.
"This dispute however centres on a technical issue around how NI Water and Nipsa negotiate pay for a section of our workforce, and the company has proposed an appropriate route for Nipsa to secure that determination.
"NI Water has made repeated efforts throughout 2025 to engage with Nipsa, including taking part in mediation earlier this month, and we remain open to continued discussion with the union."
NI Water said it was "committed to finding a way forward to ensure all our employees receive their pay settlement as quickly as possible".
Some Nipsa representatives in NI Water are also expected to begin a work-to-rule starting on Thursday 1 January.
