In a dispute over wages, more than 10,000 ambulance workers across nine trusts in England and Wales will go on strike on December 21 and 28 as part of coordinated industrial action by the GMB, Unison, and Unite unions.
During the two days of industrial action this month, ambulances will be deployed to “life-threatening” Category 1 calls, but they may not respond to a fall involving an older person, according to Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
Mr. Barclay informed that the government is in discussion with the trade unions as to whether a senior citizen who has fallen will receive assistance on the 21st and 28th of December, the days of two planned strikes.
“They have stated that life-threatening diseases will be covered.
“There are so four types of calls: Life-threatening, which is Category 1, and emergency, which is Category 2, are Categories 1 and 2, respectively. Typical examples are heart attacks and strokes. Consequently, your situation would often be classified as Category 3 or Category 4.
Currently, the trade unions assert that these items would not be covered.
In response to a question on whether an ambulance would respond to a suspected heart attack, he stated, “Well, the signal from the labor unions is that it would.”
When asked about probable strokes, Mr. Barclay responded, “Well, we are now discussing this.” Until they announced the date of the strike, the trade unions informed us that they would not discuss the specifics of the derogations, covered items, and those that would not be covered.
“Now that they have completed this, there will be conversations tomorrow regarding what exactly will be covered by this.”
In a dispute over wages, more than 10,000 ambulance workers across nine trusts in England and Wales will go on strike on December 21 and 28 as part of coordinated industrial action by the GMB, Unison, and Unite unions.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to “defend the lives and livelihoods of the British public” with “strong laws” if union leaders “continue to be unreasonable.”
The GMB union’s paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers, and other staff will go on strike at the following ambulance trusts:
• 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
Unite stated that around 1,600 of its members at ambulance service trusts in the West Midlands, North West, and North East will also join the strike on December 21.
Members of Unison who work for ambulance services in London, Yorkshire, the North West, the North East, and the South West will join the strike.
After the Royal College of Nursing’s second walkout, which was again about salary, the strikes will proceed.
The GMB union has condemned the government’s 4% pay award as another “huge real-terms wage loss.” Last week, workers in the ambulance services and some NHS trusts voted to take strike action in response to the pay award.
The government claims it cannot afford such demands, and salary increases beyond the rate of inflation will cause further price increases.
On the two confirmed days, the union announced on Tuesday that its officials will now meet with individual trusts to discuss needs for “life and limb coverage.”
Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB, stated, “The government could immediately end this strike, but they need to wake up and begin salary negotiations.”
Unite characterized the action as a “stern warning” to the government, which it urged to address the “crisis” afflicting the NHS.
The union stated that it will continue to provide patients with emergency care.
