Union suspends strike at MOT
The civil service union NIPSA tonight suspended strike action in nine MOT Centres across the North closed since May.
Staff in the centres will return to work tomorrow morning to begin processing a backlog of more than 100,000 MOT and driving tests that have accumulated since strike action started three months ago.
However the 35-week strike over pay will continue, with staff at a planning service offices throughout in Northern Ireland refusing to work.
NIPSA General Secretary John Corey announced the decision after talks with management at the Driver & Vehicle Testing Agency.
He said: “I made it absolutely clear that this didn’t signal an end of the industrial action in the civil service pay dispute.
“We said last week that we were reviewing the action in MOT centres as part of the strike strategy involving different key groups of civil servants,” he added.
The announcement was welcomed by DVTA Chief Executive Stanley Duncan who said they would be working hard to ensure that vehicle and driver testing operations were restored as soon as possible.
“Clearly it will take some time to work through the backlog that has built up over the last three months.
“However we have put a number of measures in place over the past few weeks to assist customers and help us to focus on those who have been affected the most.”
