TSSA holds ‘constructive’ meeting with Minister over Translink pay dispute 

Rail and transport union TSSA has held a ‘constructive’ meeting with the Minister for Infrastructure at Stormont today in a bid to end a dispute which threatens a summer of industrial action at Translink.   

Following the meeting with Liz Kimmins MLA at Parliament Buildings the union declared it was ‘optimistic’ the Minister was listening to concerns about the unfair two-tier pay system operating at Translink.

Hundreds of TSSA members at Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus (operating as Translink) have strongly backed industrial action in a dispute over pay. Members who work in Supervisor Grades (including railway controllers) as well as Clerical, Management, Professional & Technical Grades (MPT) have overwhelmingly voted for strike action and action short of a strike.  

Within Supervisor grades at N I Railways support for strike action was over 90 per cent in favour. There were similar results in other areas – including Ulsterbus and Management grades at N I Railways with over 80 per cent support.    

No dates have yet been set but the union says the dispute by members raises the prospect of services being reduced or failing to run at all during action taken over the summer months.   

These disputes relate to:    

 *For railway supervisors – contract disparity with the grades they supervise. TSSA members in this grade are in some cases currently paid less than the people that they supervise and are being asked to take on additional duties and changes to the way they work which would add more responsibility to their role.    

 *Clerical and MPT grades – a failure to offer a satisfactory pay award for 2024. TSSA members are unhappy that Translink have offered members a worse deal than other grades within the business which falls well short of achieving parity with pay uplifts across the company.     

Commenting, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “This was a constructive meeting with Liz Kimmins and we are optimistic she has listened to our concerns. 

“We are not asking for the moon, we are simply asking for our members to be offered the pay given to other grades. We are urging Translink and the Department for Infrastructure to act swiftly and hope common sense prevails to resolve this dispute.

“Our members do not take industrial action lightly. The fact that many of them are being offered a lower pay uplift than staff they manage is not only demoralising, it’s frankly exploitative. 

“TSSA members are dedicated transport professionals who deserve respect and fair treatment. They will not accept being treated as second-class employees.” 

ENDS 

Notes       

The ballots for industrial action opened on the 19th May and closed at noon on the 16th June 2025.    

TSSA represents Clerical, Administrative, Supervisory and Managerial staff in Ulsterbus and NI Railways, as well as Technical staff in NI Railways.      

Translink is the trading name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a public corporation that provides the public transport in the region.      

NITHCo responsibilities include holding and managing property assets and the oversight, in terms of support, control and supervision, of its private limited subsidiary companies: Ulsterbus, Metro and Northern Ireland (NI) Railways, trading jointly as Translink.