Social services staff represented by NIPSA in the Belfast health trust will take part in a 48-hour strike next month.
Around 40 NIPSA members within the trust’s family and childcare social services department will take part in the strike action from May 8-10.
The strike will run in parallel with action short of striking, and NIPSA has said it will be expanded to other health trust areas in the weeks ahead.
NIPSA has said the action is the result of failures to address staff shortages, which have left “vulnerable children in danger”.
The trade union’s deputy general secretary Patrick Mulholland said the strike comes after a “prolonged period of negotiations”.
“It is our intention to take all possible steps to ensure children and families are protected and that our members are able to provide the high-level service they are committed to,” he said.
“The crisis in Family and Childcare has been hidden for far too long. It is time to put the safety of children to the top of the agenda.
“If this round of strike action does not resolve the issue, we will seek to expand to other trusts. Activists in the Northern and Southern Trusts are preparing for action.”
NIPSA has said it will engage with trust employers to ensure “appropriate mitigations are in place to protect life and limb” during the strike.
The Belfast health trust was approached for comment.
