January 9, 2023 4.30 pm This story is over 24 months old

Fresh ambulance strike set to go ahead

Strike action takes place on January 23

By Local Democracy Reporter

The dispute between trade union leaders and the government has meant ambulance strikes across Lincolnshire and beyond look likely to go ahead later this month.

Negotiations took place between Unite the Union and government officials on Monday, as union members voted in favour of strike action on January 23 this year.

Over 2,600 ambulance workers in the East and West Midlands, as well as the North West, North East and parts of Wales, will go on strike as part of a bitter dispute over pay. They will join colleagues from fellow trade union Unison.

Unite claims an ever-growing number of NHS trusts are now having to run food banks to ensure the welfare of staff – as inflation and the cost of living soar but wages fall behind.

This is the latest strike to be announced within the ambulance workforce in recent weeks, with union members engaging in a day of industrial action on December 21 last year.

The GMB Union held a strike on December 21, outside the Lincolnshire Ambulance, Fire and Police Station on South Park in Lincoln, and another strike will be held nationwide by the GMB Union on Wednesday, January 11.

East Midlands Ambulance Service workers on a picket line at the Ambulance, Fire and Police Station on South Park in Lincoln. | Photo: The Lincolnite

GMB Union members on a picket line outside Lincoln’s blue lights hub in December said that they “just want to help people” but are unable to given their working conditions.

Unite the Union’s members balloted on strike action and voted in favour of it, affecting four ambulance trusts across England – including East Midlands Ambulance Service, which operates in and around Lincolnshire.

The NHS is facing intense pressure, particularly here in Lincolnshire, where three critical incidents were called at Lincoln County Hospital in as little as two weeks.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s ambulance workers have been left with no option but to take industrial action. They are fighting to protect patients, to save the ambulance service and the NHS itself, as well as providing for their families.

“The government has had months to intervene and end this dispute but has failed to do so. They choose to attack NHS workers rather than get more money for the NHS from profiteering companies. They repeatedly refuse to sit down and negotiate to resolve the dispute.

“The talks the government has lined up for Monday yet again look like nothing more than a smoke screen and are clearly not a negotiation on NHS pay.

“But this is real and urgent. NHS staff need their bills paying now. Vital health workers are leaving the service now. Patients are suffering and dying now. The prime minister needs to step up to the moment and lead. That is what he is paid for.”

The strikes took place at Lincoln’s Ambulance, Fire and Police Station. | Photo: The Lincolnite

It has been reported on Monday that Unite’s meeting with the government on this issue did not go well, as the union said it was “extremely angry” at the “missed opportunity” to strike an agreement and prevent industrial action.

This means the strikes look increasingly likely to go ahead on January 23, affecting services in the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West and North East of England.

There will, however, be representatives from Unite working at a local level to ensure that emergency cover is in place during the duration of the strike


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