THOUSANDS of NHS workers will be on the picket lines this Friday as part of a fresh wave of strike action by the north's biggest union representing healthcare workers.
Unison has confirmed planned walkouts on January 10, which will include a 12-hour picket by its nursing members in the Belfast health trust between 8am and 8pm.
The action coincides with strikes by the Royal College of Nursing.
Hospitals affected in the Belfast trust include the Royal Victoria, Belfast City, Mater, Musgrave Park and Knockbracken as well as nursing staff in the community sector.
The union is demanding pay parity and improved staff levels.
Unison members based in other health trusts will also be involved in the action with specific specialties affected.
In the Northern trust, A&E receptionists will take part in staggered walkouts - with Causeway geographical area exempted.
Meanwhile, social workers, administrators, community care support and the estates department will be among those striking between 9am and noon - again excluding the Causeway region.
Unison staff at all grades in the South Eastern trust area in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald will strike from 8am to 8pm while those working in North Down and Ards community settings will also be on the picket lines.
There will be a ban on overtime and bank staff being used in hospitals, with Lagan Valley in Lisburn and the Downe in Downpatrick among those affected.
In the Western trust, there will be four-hour walkouts between 10am and 2pm by Unison members in the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen as well as Altnagelvin in Derry.
Workers based at the trust's Tyrone and Fermanagh sites will also take part.
UNISON, the largest union across the health and social services system, can announce that our members working across the health service will be taking strike action on Friday 10th January. This is a continuation of the industrial action that commenced in November 2019 over the lack of pay parity with NHS workers in Scotland, England and Wales and over unsafe staffing levels.
Details of the strike action can be found on the UNISON website via the link below:
https://www.unison-ni.org.uk/sites/default/files/Strike%20Schedule%20Week%205_1.pdf
All UNISON members across the entire health and social services system are continuing industrial action short of strike until January 31st.
