PM could ban ambulance staff from staging walkouts
AMBULANCE workers and paramedics could be banned from striking after Rishi Sunak pledged “tough” legislation to tackle public sector strikes.
A Whitehall source said ministers were looking at “all the options” and that a ban on emergency NHS workers taking industrial action is among the most “extreme” of these.
The ban could include nurses in A&E departments, the source added. More likely is the legal imposition of a minimum level of service that the NHS and other public services must provide during strikes.
At present, in the NHS, the Govern- ment and the unions come to an agreement over minimum service levels during strikes. The new laws would mean these minimum levels would be legally enforceable.
Another idea being considered is a move against co-ordinated strikes between public sector unions.
The Prime Minister told MPS yesterday the new laws would crack down on public sector unions unless their leaders withdraw “unreasonable” pay demands. He said unless the unions give ground it will be his “duty to take action to protect the lives and livelihoods of the British public”.
Mr Sunak’s announcement came a day after ambulance workers announced strike action for Dec 21.
At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, Mr Sunak said: The Government has been reasonable. It has accepted the recommendations of a pay review body, giving pay rises in many cases higher than the private sector.”
The Government has already tabled the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which would require minimum service levels on transport networks during industrial action.
But Mr Sunak’s comments suggest he is planning to go further if the unions do not back down. It opens the possibility that it could be extended to the NHS, fire brigades and the Border Force.
Later, the Prime Minister’s spokesman would not put a timescale on when any new legislation would be in place – although he said it would be unlikely to come in time to prevent strikes over the Christmas period.