Bristol Post

Ambulance staff vote for walkouts

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MORE than 10,000 ambulance workers have voted to strike across nine trusts in England and Wales, increasing the threat of widespread industrial action in the NHS before Christmas.

The GMB said its members working as paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff are set to walk out in the following trusts: South West Ambulance Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, North West Ambulance Service, South Central Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service, Welsh Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The GMB said workers across the ambulance services and some NHS trusts have voted to strike over the Government’s 4% pay award, which it described as another “massive real-terms pay cut”.

The union will meet with reps in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Ambulance workers – like other NHS workers – are on their knees.

“Demoralise­d and downtrodde­n, they’ve

faced 12 years of Conservati­ve cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the front line of a global pandemic and now face the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

“No-one in the NHS takes strike action lightly - today shows just how desperate they are.

“This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay. A third of GMB ambulance workers think delays they’ve been involved with have led to the death of a patient.

“Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse.

“GMB calls on the Government to avoid a winter of NHS strikes by negotiatin­g a pay award that these workers deserve.”

The news follows an announceme­nt by Unison on Tuesday that thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technician­s, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West are to be called out on strike over pay and staffing levels after voting in favour of industrial action.

The union’s general secretary, Christina McAnea, said: “The decision to take action and lose a day’s pay is always a tough call. It’s especially challengin­g for those whose jobs involve caring and saving lives.

“But thousands of ambulance staff and their NHS colleagues know delays won’t lessen, nor waiting times reduce, until the Government acts on wages. That’s why they’ve taken the difficult decision to strike.

“Patients will always come first and emergency cover will be available during any strike but, unless NHS pay and staffing get fixed, services and care will continue to decline.”

 ?? ?? Ambulance workers have voted to strike over pay
Ambulance workers have voted to strike over pay

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