West Midlands ambulance workers to walk out on strike next week after pay offer is rejected
Ambulance workers in the West Midlands will walk out on strike next week after a pay offer by the government was rejected.
Members of union Unite are expected to join a picket line outside the Dudley ambulance hub on Tuesday morning.
Its members across the UK rejected the government’s pay offer in a consultative ballot, that closed on Friday, by 52 per cent.
Seven out of 10 of all ambulance paramedics who are Unite members rejected the deal.
Union bosses said the UK government's offer didn’t even match the higher settlement approved by Unite members in Scotland.
Under the terms of the current government offer, the union says a paramedic on a band six salary in England will earn almost £3,500 less per year than a corresponding worker in Scotland.
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “Unless and until the government puts forward a deal that meets the needs of our members, strike action will continue.
“The anger amongst NHS workers at the downward spiral of wages and working conditions that are wrecking havoc on patient care is palpable.
"Until this is resolved, Unite will be organising decisive strike action with more and more of our members.”
It comes after more than 3,000 GMB Union ambulance workers in the Midlands - including paramedics, emergency care assistants, and call handlers - walked out in February.
West Midlands Ambulance Service has issued some guidance ahead of the strike and said ambulances will continue to respond to the most urgent calls.
These include cardiac arrests and where a crew request immediate back up at the scene of a case, as well as other very serious cases such as heart attacks, strokes, difficulty in breathing and maternity cases.
Emergency services operations delivery director, Nathan Hudson, said: “In addition, staff in our non-emergency patient transport service will continue to convey vulnerable groups such as patients undertaking renal dialysis, cancer treatments, palliative care, emergency scans within the strike period timeframe.
“Ambulances will be dispatched where clinically appropriate.”
People are being asked to use 999 in emergencies only and use the symptom checker at NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk if they are unsure of which service to use.
