Thousands of ambulance staff will stage further strike action as a row over pay continues.
Ambulance service staff from GMB and Unison trade unions were on strike on Wednesday, January 11, following previous strike days in December. Unison and Unite members also announced their members would be taking further action this month.
Today, Unite has announced fresh dates in an escalation of the ambulance workers dispute. Members of Unite will stage ten further strikes over the coming weeks and additional dates could be announced in the comings days.
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In the North West, current dates for Unite members include February 6 and 22 and March 6 and 20. This coincides with members from GMB who are also staging strike action on these dates in the North West.
The Royal College of Nursing are also set to go on strike on February 6 and 7 if progress is not made this month, meaning nurses and ambulance staff could be striking on the same day for the first time.
The announcement of fresh strike comes ahead of the latest day of industrial action with Unite’s ambulance workers set to walk out next Monday. It comes over an ongoing fight for a fairer pay deal as previous talks were said to have broken down.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary said: "Rather than act to protect the NHS and negotiate an end to the dispute, the government has disgracefully chosen to demonise ambulance workers.
"Ministers are deliberately misleading the public about the life and limb cover and who is to blame for excessive deaths. Our members faithfully provide life and limb cover on strike days and it’s not the unions who are not providing minimum service levels.
"It’s this government’s disastrous handling of the NHS that has brought it to breaking point. And as crisis piles on crisis, the prime minister is seen to be ‘washing his hands’ of the dispute. What a disgrace. What an abdication of leadership."
As with previous strikes, Unite’s representatives will be working at a regional level to agree derogations to ensure that emergency life and limb cover will be in place during the strikes. Other derogations will ensure that patients needing lifesaving treatment, such as renal care and cancer treatment, will be transported to their appointments.
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