Paramedics are set for industrial action in the run-up to Christmas after bosses slashed their sick pay.
Ambulance staff throughout the country have been locked in a dispute with bosses for months after it was announced workers who go off ill will receive up to 25% less cash.
NHS bosses claim a move to stop giving ambulance staff antisocial hours payments brings them into line with other workers like nurses. But a consultative ballot involving members of GMB, Unison and Unite, overwhelmingly rejected the plans claiming the physical nature of their jobs combined with increased pressure means they are more liable to become ill.
Representatives demanded bosses delay the move while negotiations take place but they refused and NHS bosses have already started docking the pay of workers who fall ill. Now the unions have issued a notice they intend to ballot for industrial action in the coming weeks which means action could take place during the run-up to Christmas.
Paramedic Mike Oliver, Unison’s convenor for Lancashire and Cumbria, said: “From September 1, any staff will have had money deducted if they have been off sick.
“We will challenge it legally and meanwhile we will be balloting for industrial action. A strike would be our last resort and there are other ways to take action like overtime bans or not covering sporting events.”
The removal of unsociable hours payments for ambulance staff off sick is part of the “Agenda for change” and brings them into line with other NHS staff like nurses. But workers argue they have already lost between eight and 12% of the value of their salaries over recent years, face mounting workloads and do a highly physical job which means they have an above-average sickness rate.
The news comes just days after firefighters took part in a four-hour walk-out over proposed pension changes, which would mean they would not be able to collect their full sum until the age of 60.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The NHS Staff Council agreed national changes for all our hard-working NHS staff, which would not affect the lowest paid or those injured or ill due to their work.
“Helping staff return to work as soon as they are fit and well is the right thing to do for them and patients.”
A spokesman for NHS Employers which made the change said it remained “disappointed” by the move.
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