Image source, Getty Images

Almost every school and further education college in Northern Ireland is closed today, the NASUWT's Justin McCamphill tells Good Morning Ulster.

“We have asked all our members to come out on strike and we know they are heeding that call,” he says.

Over the last 13 years, he says, teachers “have watched their pay being eroded”.

In the last three years, teachers have not received any pay rise and salaries now lag behind the rest of the UK, he adds.

“The starting salary for a teacher in Northern Ireland is £24,000 – that compares with £30,000 in England and roughly £32,000 in Scotland."

Stephen Murphy has been working in the health service since he was 18 years old and for the ambulance service for the last 25 years.

He says there’s been an ongoing “deterioration” across the health service's staffing during his time working for the ambulance service.

“That is now affecting care and that’s having a ripple effect right across the health service," he says.

“Casualties are now at bottle neck and the team in casualty haven’t got the space or capacity to offload for our ambulances.

“I can guarantee on our control screen this morning there will be at least five to six category two calls [life threatening] that we’d need to get to but we can’t, it’s frustrating for everyone that we can’t get to where we need to be at the proper times.”

Grainne Connolly
BBC News NI

I’m at the Royal Victoria Hospital picket line in Belfast – it started at 07:30 this morning so things are just getting going.

Striking workers are setting up stalls and getting teas and coffees ready for a cold standout.

It’s freezing but everybody’s well wrapped up.

The main feeling amongst members this morning is frustration – there is public funding available to them but they can’t access it.

Julian Fowler
BBC News NI

A bit early for most of the picket lines this morning but there are a few early birds here outside the South West Acute Hospital from the Royal College of Nursing.

The main event here in Enniskillen will be happening at lunchtime as it will be in other towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

There will be a large rally and demonstration in the town centre, there are other marches and rallies being held in Belfast, Londonderry, Omagh, Magherafelt and Cookstown.

In Enniskillen, the unions will come together at about 12:00 GMT, march into the town centre to the Diamond outside the town hall and there will be speeches and a rally there at 13:00.

Speaking on Good Morning Ulster, Rita Devlin, from the Royal College of Nursing, says her members are striking until 13:00 GMT.

"Our nurses who would have been going on shift are now going to the picket line," she says.

"Today every nurse, pharmacist, radiologist and others are on strike - it's never happened before.

"The irony is it didn't have to happen - people have slept-walked into this awful day coming to pass as they were not able to reach agreement.

"We can't retain staff as they aren't paid enough.

"We are lagging far behind pay in England, Wales and Scotland."

Image source, PA Media

It’ll cause severe disruption in the healthcare system, with already under-pressure services being curtailed.

Health trusts have said that many people due hospital appointments today will have had them cancelled.

South Eastern Trust's medical director Dr Charlie Martyn said they will not be treating "anything other than life and limb", meaning non-emergency procedures and appointments will be rescheduled.

Cancer services, such as chemotherapy treatment, are also not being provided.

GPs are not on strike but will be operating on an emergency-only basis and the ambulance service has said it will prioritise patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses.

It is asking the public only to call in life-threatening emergencies, such as cardiac arrest, loss of consciousness, breathing difficulties and severe bleeding.

You can read more about the impact of the strike on healthcare here.

As previously mentioned, cancer services included chemotherapy treatments are being disrupted today - and this does mark a departure from previous strikes.

Usually these services are “derogated” - which means staff are allowed to cover shifts, so services continue as normal.

But today, that’s not the case.

Other derogated services including critical care units, neonatal and paediatric ICUs, regional forensic units and psychiatric ICUs.

Caroline Landers, from Derrylin, County Fermanagh, has had three hospital appointments in re-scheduled.

Ms Landers has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and has completed chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but is to have further follow-up treatment.

"I am fully in support of the nurses going out on strike because of the job they do," she says.

Read more here.

Bus drivers braved freezing temperatures in Londonderry to get to the picket line early.

Damien Doherty, a driver and member of the Unite union, says he is expecting many more to join.

"Simply offering 0% is where we are at and it's something that we cannot stand by and we can't allow to happen," he says.

“We’re hoping to get big numbers out into the rally across all sectors to send a message to Chris Heaton-Harris and other politicians to say: 'We’ve had enough of it’,' he tells BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Image source, Shutterstock

With drivers on strike, there are no Translink services today.

The motorway network and the A1 are covered by private gritting contractors and will be treated as normal, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has said. And snow in some difficult areas on high ground will also be cleared.

However, it is unlikely any other roads will be treated, so the department has asked people to only make journeys that are "absolutely essential”.

And, despite the lack of buses, bus lanes will still be in operation. So, if you're caught driving on one on the day of the strike you could get a fine. Translink has said its services will return to normal on Friday.

Our BBC Radio Ulster teams are across Northern Ireland to bring you the latest.

You can click the PLAY button at the top of the page to listen to BBC's Good Morning Ulster or listen on sounds.

And tune in at 08:00 GMT for the latest from the north west on North West Today.

John Campbell
BBC News NI economics and business editor

For the most part, it's all about pay - or the lack of it.

It's fallen sharply for public sector workers in Northern Ireland over the past two years due to a combination of high inflation, a Stormont budget crisis and the lack of devolved government.

"Real terms pay" refers to the value of a worker's pay adjusted for the impact of rising prices. For example, someone's pay could increase from £28,000 to £30,000, giving them an increase in cash pay of just over 7%.

But if inflation is running at 9% that means the real value of their pay has fallen by 2%.

Unions point to pay rises received by public sector workers in other parts of the UK and say their members are losing out.

For their part, the employers say that they do not have the funds available to make any new pay offers under the budgets allocated to them by the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

Mr Heaton-Harris allocated the budgets because there is no government in Northern Ireland. The executive collapsed in early 2022 when the DUP withdrew due to its boycott of trade rules post-Brexit.

For more analysis on why workers are out on strike today click here.

Image source, Pacemaker

In total, workers from 16 unions are taking part in the mass walk out. The unions are:

• British Dietetic Association (BDA)
• Charted Society of Physiotherapists (CSP)
• GMB
• Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO)
• Society of Radiographers (SoR)
• Siptu
• National Association of Headteachers (NAHT)
• National Association of Schoolteachers and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
• National Education Union (NEU)
• Nipsa
• Royal College of Midwives (RCM)
• Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
• Ulster Teachers Union (UTU)
• Unison
• Unite
• University and College Union (UCU)

Image source, Pacemaker

Hello and welcome to our coverage of today’s major strike action across Northern Ireland.

More than 100,000 workers, including bus drivers, nurses and teachers, are walking out as their ongoing dispute over pay escalates.

The co-ordinated action between 16 trade unions will halt buses and trains, close schools and severely disrupt services including healthcare.

It is expected to be the biggest strike in Northern Ireland in 50 years, with rallies being held later in towns and cities including Belfast, Londonderry, Omagh and Enniskillen at about lunch time.

Our reporters will be across not just the picket lines but also the major impact that today’s strike will have on the Northern Ireland public - stay with us for all the latest.