West Midlands Ambulance crews set to vote on potential strike action around pay
Ambulance workers across Shropshire and the wider West Midlands region have today begun working on industrial action.
The GMB Union is beginning the process of balloting 15,000 workers across the country, which includes the West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Stuart Richards, the GMB's senior organiser in the midlands, said: "The last 12 years has seen our ambulance services crumble from the sheer neglect and lack of investment from successive Conservative Governments.
"Right across the West Midlands, when hospitals haven't been able to admit patients, it was Ambulance workers that had to step in. When staffing levels were at crisis levels, it was Ambulance workers that took on extra hours to keep the service going."
He added: "They deserve better than 12 years of attacks to their pay. They deserve a pay rise that redresses the balance.
"GMB Union members in WMAS want to be out on the streets trying to save lives. They shouldn't have to be worrying about feeding their own families. It’s a national disgrace.
"The responsibility for the first ambulance strike in 40 years sits squarely with the Conservative Government. It's down to them to step up and pay Ambulance workers a decent wage."
The vote is involving more than 15,000 ambulance workers across 11 trusts in England and Wales who begin voting on strike action. Thousands more NHS workers will also be balloted across other NHS trusts, with more votes set to follow.
The vote closes on November 29.
Rachel Harrison, GMB acting national secretary, said: "Ambulance workers don’t do this lightly - and this would be the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years.
"But more than ten years of pay cuts, plus the cost-of-living crisis, means workers can’t make ends meet. They are desperate.
"But this is much more about patient safety at least as much about pay. Delays up to 26 hours and 135,000 vacancies across the NHS mean a third of GMB ambulance workers think a delay they’ve been involved with has led to a death.
“Ambulance workers have been telling the Government for years things are unsafe. No one is listening. What else can they do?”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We value the hard work of NHS staff and are working hard to support them - including by giving over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.
"Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients."
WMAS has been asked to comment.
