Two meat plants in Northern Ireland were closed down by strike action by members of the public service union NIPSA today.
The shut-down was forced when more than 20 veterinary and meat inspectors launched a four-day strike as part of the ongoing civil service pay dispute in the province.
The plants in Ballymena and Crumlin, Co Antrim handle only cattle which are over 30 months old and not for human consumption, said the Department of Agriculture.
The cattle put through the plants are slaughtered and sent to England for incineration.
The strike is the latest phase in a dispute which has rumbled on since
December. There have been a number of all-out one day strikes by up to 20,000 civil servants and a series of three and four day strikes by key workers which have hit Social Security offices and last week closed down all British government switchboards.
The union announced today that Driver and Vehicle Licensing staff in the Department of Environment would strike next week.
It indicated that MOT test centres would be among divisions hit.
NIPSA general secretary Mr John Corey said the union was being forced to extend the selective strike action to more areas because senior civil service management were failing to negotiate to resolve the dispute.