Ambulance workers to stage fresh strikes in January
Unison members will walkout on the 11th and 23rd in a long running dispute over pay
Last updated 22nd Dec 2022
Ambulance workers, including paramedics and call handlers, will hold two fresh strikes in January.
Unison members will walkout on the 11th and 23rd of next month, in a long running row over pay and conditions.
The strike will affect London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West and follows action by members of three ambulance unions on Wednesday.
It's come after the health secretary said he was willing to hold fresh talks with NHS workers over job conditions.
But Steve Barclay is considering fast-tracking an NHS pay rise next year in a bid to resolve the dispute but has so far ruled out any movement on current wages.
On Thursday, despite calls to discuss pay, he tweeted to say his "door is always open to talk to trade unions about concerns around working conditions", and repeated the Government line that they will continue to defer to the "independent pay review body" process to "ensure decisions balance the needs of staff and the wider economy".
While some ambulance trusts have come down from their highest alert levels, they warned the public that the health service remains under huge pressure.
East of England Ambulance Service and North West Ambulance Service both stood down their critical incident status but added that the NHS "remains under extreme pressure" and said 999 and 111 services "are still challenged".
Nursing leaders warned the NHS is "dangerously close to overheating completely" and said the latest figures suggested there was "absolutely no slack in the system".
Meanwhile, the wave of industrial action, fuelled by wages failing to keep pace with soaring inflation, continued around the UK.
Strikes involved National Highways in London and the South East, Unite members working for Highlands and Islands Airports, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff in the North West, Yorkshire and Humber and North Wales, and Rural Payments Agency workers, while Unison members at the Environment Agency are refusing to provide on-call cover for unexpected incidents.
On Friday, Royal Mail workers are set to walk out in another national strike, while the National Highways workers and DVSA strikes continue.