More than 10,000 ambulance workers to strike

Workers have voted to strike across nine trusts in England and Wales

Author: Chris MaskeryPublished 30th Nov 2022
Last updated 30th Nov 2022

Thousands of ambulance workers have voted to strike across nine trusts in England and Wales.

The GMB union announced the news saying over 10,000 of it;s members will be taking strike action.

The GMB said its members working as paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff are set to walk out in the following trusts:

  • South West Ambulance Service
  • South East Coast Ambulance Service
  • North West Ambulance Service
  • South Central Ambulance Service
  • North East Ambulance Service
  • East Midlands Ambulance Service
  • West Midlands Ambulance Service
  • Welsh Ambulance Service
  • Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The GMB said workers across the ambulance services and some NHS trusts have voted to strike over the Government’s 4% pay award, which it described as another “massive real-terms pay cut”.

The union will meet with reps in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.

"Ambulance workers are on their knees"

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Ambulance workers – like other NHS workers – are on their knees.

“Demoralised and downtrodden, they’ve faced 12 years of Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the frontline of a global pandemic and now face the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

“No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly – today shows just how desperate they are.

“This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay. A third of GMB ambulance workers think delays they’ve been involved with have led to the death of a patient.

“Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse.

“GMB calls on the Government to avoid a winter of NHS strikes by negotiating a pay award that these workers deserve.”This is a breaking news story, more to follow.

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