Ambulance strike called off

PARAMEDICS provided a glimmer of hope that further strike action could be avoided as the GMB Union suspended its strike last weekend.

Strikes were scheduled every Saturday until the end of October, and have taken place for the last seven weeks.

Last Saturday, however, the action was suspended to allow for talks between the GMB and the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).

A GMB spokesperson said that two meetings had taken place in the days leading up to the Bank Holiday weekend with the involvement of the Advisory, Conciliation And Arbitration Service (ACAS), to try to resolve the long-running dispute over job evaluation.

Mike Buoey, GMB organiser, said: “After consulting our members at a branch meeting, we have agreed to postpone this weekend’s strike action and will be having further meetings with the employer and ACAS next week. Whilst it is early days we are hopeful these exploratory talks may prove fruitful and help us address the concerns of our members.

“We will be having a further branch meeting to consider the next steps”.

The dispute over job evaluation has been a drawn out process, and last month the GMB outlined the issue.

Paul Turner, GMB organiser, said in July: “GMB’s hard-working North West paramedics have simply had enough.

“We submitted a freedom of information request to NWAS, which made it clear the trust that had sought advice from senior figures within NHS employers – a clear breach of national job evaluation guidelines (JEG). Our members now have no confidence in the JEG to enable a a fair and transparent evaluation.

“GMB is asking for an independent investigation.”