General strike rallies planned for Cookstown and Magherafelt town centres this Thursday

Venues are The Diamond, Magherafelt, at 11am and the old Post Office in Cookstown town centre at 1pm.

Thursday's general strike involves 15 trade unions and includes nurses, teachers, midwives, healthcare workers, and is expected to bring public services to a standstill across Northern Ireland.

MUTC spokesperson Harry Hutchinson said the general strike had materialised due to years of public sector pay cuts, none more so than the previous year, with pay cut by around half inflation.

"All public services are in crisis, due to deliberate underfunding, as the government edge’s more public services towards privatisation,” he said.

"Lack of a living wage and relentless working pressure is causing workers to move abroad. The government have done nothing to redress this problem, due to their disregard for public services.

"Restoring pay alone to pre 2010 levels would at least be a major first step towards resolving public sector workers demands. Junior doctors are demanding 35%, which they claim is the loss of pay they have endured over years of pay cuts. Other public sector workers should demand pay increases in this region.”

Mr Hutchinson continued: "Instead, the Chancellor wants to spend billions to remove inheritance tax for the rich. Billions more on middle and far Eastern wars. The NI Secretary of State delays pay settlements, claiming Stormont must be restored; this is untrue, he knows the longer pay settlements remain unresolved the likely they can he settled at lower levels.

"The government, alone with their Corporate party finance, care nothing for public sector workers or services; deaths due to long consultant referrals, hospital admissions etc, are a static to them.

School teachers having to not just teach but cope with looking out for children’s welfare. This is society collapsing and governments, Conservative or Labour doing nothing to address the crises.

“This general strike must be the turning point. Firstly, force the Secretary of State to resolve pay, on Union conditions, not government. Restore full funding for public services. Workers must now demand control of their services and run by democratically elected workers committees. Workers must now go n the offensive against this corrupt Capitalist system.”