Paramedics and ambulance staff have joined other striking NHS workers today.
In the last week nurses have staged two historic walk-outs but today, on Wednesday, December 21, ambulance staff were on the picket line for the first time. The GMB, Unison and Unite unions are those co-ordinating the latest strike action as staff fight for better pay and working conditions.
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is one of nine ambulance trusts where staff will walk out today, with bosses warning of a 'significant and noticeable difference' in the way the service will operate.
READ MORE: Live updates as paramedics and ambulance staff walk out on strike
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said this morning that the union was prepared to meet the Government for negotiations "any time, any place, anywhere." She said: "They need to discuss what they are doing in terms of the NHS for the long term. It needs more investment.
"They are the people at the helm. This is happening on their watch." She also pointed out that those on the picket line had served the public throughout the pandemic, when many workers across key sectors had lost their lives. Ms Graham added: "They went out when Covid was rife - nobody knew there was going to be a vaccine.
"Now that crisis is over, those exact same workers have been treated like dirt. That is what happens in our society now. Every day people go out and deal with a crisis, they do all the donkey work and then when they come back and they've dealt with it, they are the ones who have to pay for it. This economy is broken and it needs to be looked at very differently."
While Health Secretary Steve Barclay appeared to doubled down on his refusal to negotiate on pay to avert health strikes, but told staff to "look forward" to next year's pay process. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We're already three quarters of the way through this year so what you'd be saying is, go all the way back retrospectively to April to unpick what has been an independent decision by the pay review body.
"But we're already now under way in terms of next year's pay review process, the remit letters have gone out. Obviously that body will then consider the changes in inflation, the other issues that have been raised, all as part of the normal process of looking at next year's pay, so we should look forward."
Follow our live coverage from the strikes here.
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