Ambulance workers in pay strike

A 24-hour stoppage on May 6 has been confirmed by Unite’s ambulance service members in Northern Ireland – the only health area in the UK where workers have not received  an offer of a pay rise.

A programme of strike action over an outstanding pay claim for last year, the lack of any offer for this year, plus proposed health service closures, will now go ahead.

Union members across the NI health service will also refuse to work unpaid overtime from April 30.

Unite national officer Kevin McAdam said, “Healthcare workers are outraged at the failure of the DHSSPS to respond to the need for a fair and equitable pay rise.”

McAdam said staff were “alarmed” at the pay situation, saying the imposition of a settlement and absence of a rise had “caused anxiety for already under-pressure staff.”

McAdam added, “This action is the next stage in our long running pay campaign. We are now joining other health unions in a strategy of varied actions designed to maximise disruption to the management of services while minimising impact on clients.

“This fight is about protecting jobs and services and we will do what it takes to get the Stormont mandarins to start treating the staff in health with respect and dignity.

“Our members are the lynch-pin of the National Health Service and are being treated abysmally when it comes to pay. The other three nations have already reached settlements.”