More than 10,000 ambulance workers have voted to strike in England and Wales, with walkouts expected in the run up to Christmas.
Paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers from the GMB union are set to walk out at nine trusts following a dispute over pay.
GMB will now meet with reps in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.
It comes as the NHS braces for mass walkouts, with up to 100,000 nurses preparing to strike next month at NHS trusts across the country.
Emergency workers at Unison have also backed pre-Christmas walkouts, with dates due to be announced in the coming days.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has rejected pleas to reopen pay talks with unions - and branded their demands "not affordable".
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “Ambulance workers – like other NHS workers – are on their knees.
“Demoralised and downtrodden, they’ve faced twelve years Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the frontline 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."
Strikes are planned at:
- 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
- Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Emergency call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West will be called out on strike over pay and staffing levels, Unison also said.
Unison'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."
