Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Ambulance workers to go on strike again in two new walkouts over pay

Ambulance workers will stage two fresh strikes in a dispute over pay and staffing, the union have today announced.

Unison says the industrial action will take place on 11 and 23 January.

Members of the GMB union at nine ambulance trusts are also ready to strike on December 28.

Thousands of ambulance service workers have been walking out across England and Wales with some patients being told to make their own way to A&E.

Staff say are taking to the picket lines in their thousands in their desperation to keep the nation's ailing health service alive.

Two further strikes on January 11 and 23 are planned (Jonathan Buckmaster)

The strike will affect London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West and follows action by members of three ambulance unions on Wednesday.

Unison said the new strikes were a direct result of the government’s “repeated refusal” to negotiate improvements to NHS pay this year.

The January strikes will each be for 24 hours from midnight to midnight and involve all ambulance employees, not just the 999 response crews, as was the case on Wednesday

It comes after more than 25,000 ambulance workers from Unison, Unite and the GMB unions walked out this week.

Health secretary Steve Barclay infuriated union leaders on Wednesday by saying they had taken a “conscious decision” to harm people.

More than 25,000 ambulance workers walked out in coordinated strike action on December 21 (PA)

Many of the services’ employees are likely to be exempted from the action under emergency cover plans to be drawn up locally by each ambulance employer, working with Unison, said the union.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “It’s only through talks that this dispute will end. No health workers want to go out on strike again in the new year.

It comes after 25,000 ambulance workers from Unison, Unite and the GMB unions walked out on Wednesday (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“But accusing NHS staff of making a conscious decision to inflict harm on the public by taking action this week was not the health secretary’s finest hour.

“Neither was it a particularly smart move for Steve Barclay to falsely accuse health unions of failing to deliver a national emergency cover plan. The secretary of state knew full well life and limb cover arrangements were being agreed locally by ambulance managers and unions.

“It’s time Steve Barclay stopped with the insults and fibs and called the unions in for proper talks about improving NHS pay.

“Speeding up next year’s pay review body process won’t solve the current dispute, which is about the pitiful amount the government gave health workers this year.

“The Government must stop using the pay review body as cover for its own inaction. This year’s pay rise simply wasn’t enough to halt the exodus of staff from the NHS.

“The Government should right that wrong with an increase better matching inflation. Only then will vacancy rates reduce, allowing the NHS to get back on track and start delivering safe patient care once more.”

After the festive break, the union will begin to ask around 13,000 staff in 10 English NHS trusts if they are prepared to take strike action in the spring.

Ambulance workers at the Unison picket outside the London Ambulance Service headquarters (Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

This is because the turnout in the previous strike ballot, the results of which were announced last month, fell just below the threshold required by law.

This includes all the remaining five ambulance services in England – the West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South East Coast and South Central. There will also be a re-ballot of staff working for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Health workers belonging to Unison and employed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, London’s Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and the North West-based Bridgewater Community Trust are being asked to vote again.

There will also be a re-ballot of Unison members working for the NHS Blood and Transplant service.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.