Ambulance crews in the West Midlands and Shropshire are set to start industrial action, beginning with an overtime ban next Wednesday, followed by a series of two-hour strikes, in a dispute over basic pay cuts of up to £3,500 a year.
West Midlands Unison and the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel (Apap) both confirmed to News Line yesterday that two-hour strikes will be going ahead between 7am and 9am on 9th, 16th and 23rd February.
UNISON West Midlands regional official Ray Salmon told News Line: ‘We’ve served notice to begin a work to rule and overtime ban on the 8th February and on the 9th we have a two-hour stoppage.’
He said that the ‘national employers’ had intervened to stop a deal reached with the ‘local employers’ going ahead.
Salmon said under the government’s Agenda for Change, the unions had reached a deal with the NHS trust to increase technicians’ basic pay to £25,000 from £20,000 plus an unsocial hours supplement, and an increase from £22,000 to £30,000 basic plus unsocial hours over seven years for paramedics.
But the government has intervened to propose technicians get £19,000 basic, saying their unsocial hours supplements will make up any difference, and paramedics should have their basic pay increase pegged at £25,000 plus unsocial hours.
Salmon said this meant technicians stood to lose £5,000 and paramedics £8,000.
He explained: ‘We’ve been in talks for seven and half months and we’ve tried to implement the national agreement.
‘After the job evaluation process, we reached an agreement with local employers but the national employers intervened and tried to downgrade the agreed scales.’
In a statement, the APAP said it had set a 4pm deadline for last Monday to reach an agreement with the Department of Health and the West Midlands and Shropshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, but it passed without any progress being made.
Mark Weatherhead, APAP’s General Secretary said: ‘It seems that the DoH have made their mind up on the level of pay they are willing to pay the pre-hospital profession.
‘In some cases this could mean a cut in basic pay of up to £3,500.
‘Although pay will be enhanced with unsociable payments the basic hourly rate will be reduced affecting pensionable pay.’
He continued: ‘Not withstanding the fact that the processes which were agreed through negotiation have been completely disregarded, it would seem that APAP’s original perception of the Agenda for Change has been proven to be correct.
‘It is now evident that no serious thought has taken place to ensure that Ambulance Staff would assimilate accurately into the new pay structure, which was devised primarily for the nursing grades of the NHS.’
APAP said ambulance crews have been put on the Band 5 pay scale when it had been agreed with the trust that paramedics and technicians would be put on the higher Band 6 pay and conditions scale.
Last ditch talks between the unions and the NHS trust are being held today in a bid to avert the industrial action.
West Midlands and Shropshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust Chief Executive Barry Johns maintains the issue of ambulance pay banding was not confined to the West Midlands.
He claims: ‘It is now a national concern. Therefore we have limited room for manoeuvre.’
