999 bosses get strike warning in pay dispute
AMBULANCE chiefs have been told non-emergency staff could strike in a row over pay.
The Unison union is in talks with members of the Patient Transfer Service (PTS) over potential industrial action against the North W e s t Ambulance Service (NWAS) unless it agrees to its demands.
According to the NWAS website, the PAT makes more than 1.2 million non-emergency journeys each year, helping those who need extra support to get to hospital appointments.
In 2012, the Greater Manchester service was put out to tender and was awarded to Arriva after it undercut NWAS by £3.5m.
During that time, Arriva hired 112 new staff – a third of the current PTS workforce – who were employed on lower salaries and different terms and conditions to their NWAS colleagues.
In December 2015, it was announced the contract – worth almost £67m – would be returned to NWAS the following year.
Union chiefs say staff hired by Arriva believed their salaries would be brought in line their colleagues.
But that was not the case.
Unison claims NWAS now plans to advertise new roles with the PAT on higher salaries. If Arriva-hired staff land one of the jobs, they won’t get the pay increase.
David Atkinson, regional organiser for Unison North West, said the situation was ‘unacceptable’, and argued all staff should be on the same contracts.
“The unequal treatment of staff in the Patient Transport Service in Greater Manchester is unfair and needs to be addressed urgently,” he said.
“It is intolerable that some staff are still on inferior Arriva pay and conditions. This is an NHS service, the staff are employed by the NHS and they should all be on NHS terms and conditions.
“We understand the trust is not properly funded, but the current glacial rate of progress toward equal treatment is not acceptable.
“This situation cannot go on, and we are consulting members about taking industrial action.”
NWAS head of patient transport, Ian Stringer, said all staff were transferred back to NWAS on their existing terms and conditions, be it Arriva or NWAS, under TUPE regulations.
He added: “Therefore, any applications from members of this staff group to vacancies within the same role are treated as internal transfers and, as such, would retain their protected terms and conditions.”
Mr Stringer said the service was committed to exploring opportunities to narrow the pay gap – and that it has already awarded staff a 1 per cent pay increase.
NWAS, he added, has also increased the level of overtime pay to timeand -a-half for every hour worked over and above 37.5 hours per week, which is in line with the rest of the NHS. ●●Members of the Patient Transfer Service are in talks over potential industrial action in its pay dispute with the North West Ambulance Service