TSSA to meet Minister over Translink dispute  

Rail and transport union TSSA is set to meet the Minister for Infrastructure at Stormont in a bid to end a dispute which threatens a summer of industrial action at Translink.  

TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, will hold talks at Parliament Buildings on Tuesday 1st July with Liz Kimmins MLA after hundreds of TSSA members at Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus (operating as Translink) 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: “Our hope is that the meeting with the Minister for Infrastructure will lead to a quick breakthrough which meets the aspirations our members have on pay, therefore avoiding needless industrial action which would hit services. 

“We will be stressing to Liz Kimmins that our union does not take this step lightly, but we have been left with no choice after other grades in Translink were offered the equivalent of a 5.77 per cent pay increase.    

“We were not asking for anything other than pay equality across the company and for TSSA members to receive the same basic uplift as other grades. Sadly, to date the offer made by Translink would only increase the pay inequality that our members have faced in recent years. 

“The Minister has the power to change the situation and will be aware of the strength of feeling among our members. That is why we have asked her to intervene - the last thing we want is to see railways grinding to a halt.” 

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.