Almost 1,500 employees of the Welsh Ambulance Service are set to vote on whether to take strike action, it has been announced. The GMB Union has launched a formal industrial action ballot, with the dates to be announced in the coming days.
The vote comes following a consultative ballot which saw 90% of GMB's Welsh Ambulance Service members vote in favour of a walkout. Paramedics and other ambulance workers are angry at the Welsh Government's imposed 4% pay award which leaves them facing yet another real-terms pay cut.
GMB is calling on the UK and Welsh governments to uplift the pay for hard-pressed ambulance staff. Kelly Andrews, GMB organiser, said: "Unfortunately 4% is like sticking a plaster on an open wound - it's not going to help. Ambulance staff are at the forefront of our emergency services, and already underpaid and undervalued for the work they do. The and UK and Welsh governments need to come back to the table with something that recognises their hard work, plain and simple."
Read more: 'I spent six days in a chair in Wales' busiest A&E department and it felt inhumane'
The news follows a decision by the Royal College of Nursing to ballot its members to vote for strike action the first time in its 106-year history. The union is recommending its 300,000 members in Wales, England and Scotland walk out out over pay, with the result of the ballot due next month.
The RCN has been calling for a rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate of 12%, but no UK nation has offered close to that. In England and Wales, NHS staff, including nurses, are being given an average of 4.75% more, with extra for the lowest paid, while in Scotland, 5% has been given.
Helen Whyley, director of RCN Wales, said: "In the first ballot of its kind for RCN Wales, we are urging our members to vote in favour of strike action. It is imperative that our members in Wales have their say and ensure their voices are heard.
"Strike action is undoubtedly a last resort, but we have exhausted every other option and the Welsh Government have not addressed our issues. Nursing professionals have endured years of real-terms pay cuts, understaffing and an utter disregard to the needs of the workforce.
"This ballot is to make sure patients in Wales receive safe and effective nursing care. We know that patient safety is of the utmost importance to our members, and that the current staffing crisis is its biggest threat.
"There are currently around 3,000 registered nurse vacancies in NHS Wales, 1,200 more than last year and this means patient safety is being comprised. If the Welsh Government is serious about ensuring skilled and experienced nurses carry on nursing in NHS Wales and that the profession is attractive for future generations, it must uplift nurse pay 5% above inflation. Only then we will see the tide changed on the massive wave of nurses leaving NHS Wales.
“Over the past couple of months, I have been visiting workplaces across Wales to speak with our members and listen to their concerns. The sentiment remains the same – enough is enough; the Welsh Government must act now."
Similarly, Unison Cymru/Wales is calling on its members in the healthcare sector to vote to strike over pay. Its head of health Hugh McDyer said: "Everyone should have the right to eat, heat their homes and feed their families. The pay award of £1,400 for health workers is nowhere near enough and leaves everyone in the NHS worse off. However the award is sliced, it's a real-terms pay cut across every single NHS salary band."
The Welsh Government said it had accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review body in full, but without additional funding from the UK Government there were inevitably limits to how far it could go. You can get more stories like this straight to your inbox by subscribing to our Wales Matters newsletter here.
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'I spent six days in a chair in Wales' busiest A&E department and it felt inhumane'
