NIPSA trade union activists in the civil service are currently engaged in a struggle to defend what is known as “facility time” to continue to effectively represent their members and to engage in the internal activities necessary to the democracy of any trade union.
Writing at the beginning of April about the legal changes on the issue of abortion, we warned “the indications are that Stormont politicians, instead of making basic healthcare more easily accessible, are pushing back against the recent changes.” Unfortunately, this was confirmed earlier this week, when a majority of MLAs voted in favour of the DUP motion to reject the “imposition of abortion legislation” from Westminster.