English Ambulance Unions Call Of Strikes As Government Agrees To Talks

Ambulance workers in England will no longer strike this week after government ministers agreed to pay talks.

Workers affiliated with three unions — GMB, Unite and Unison — had planned to stage walk-outs on Monday and Wednesday over a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

Last month, nursing union the Royal College of Nursing also announced it would suspend further strike action after the government agreed to negotiate on pay.

The news will bring welcome relief to hospitals who have faced months of industrial action from nurses and ambulance staff. But a doctor’s strike is still on the table for March.

Junior doctors — qualified physicians, many of whom may have been working in public hospitals for several years — are due to walk out over 72 hours next week.

These doctors make up a massive 40% of the medical workforce, according to the BBC, which reports more senior doctors have asked for much higher rates than normal to cover affected shifts.

Healthcare and other public sector workers have been striking in recent months as England’s inflation rate has soared. Union leaders argue workers are facing real-terms pay cuts, with prices for essential goods like food and energy having soared.

Paying workers well, they say, is also essential for maintaining a safe level of staff in hospitals, which are already experiencing tremendous pressures as high demand and bed occupancy rates slow down emergency response times, admissions from emergency rooms and long waits for routine procedures.

There are numerous factors behind the extreme pressures hospitals and ambulance services have faced in recent months, including a lack of adequate social care to the ease the discharge of certain patients, and higher levels of sickness among patients, whose conditions may have worsened as they’ve waited for care.

Short staffing at hospitals makes it even harder to care for patients in a safe and timely manner.

Until now, the government has largely refused to negotiate on pay with National Health Service (NHS) workers, who have called for a rise in this year’s compensation deal.

Ministers have argued that current levels of pay are based on recommendations from an independent body. They have also said raising salaries would be expensive and potentially make inflation even worse.

But after months of increasing efforts from unions, ministers appear to be changing their tune.

Unison and GMB — who described the talks as a “huge shift” in the government’s approach — announced on Friday that their members would no longer strike. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy also called off industrial action.

Unite announced it had called off strike action on Sunday, saying that the government had agreed any increased pay would not have to come out of hospital’s own budgets.

Unite head of operations Gail Cartmail said in a statement: “Following further assurances from the government over the weekend Unite has in good faith agreed to pause the strike action.

“If the meeting doesn’t meet these assurances strike action will resume.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said in a statement: “We’re pleased that unions representing the majority of ambulance workers, nurses, physiotherapists, porters, cleaners and other non-medical staff have agreed to pause strikes and enter a process of intensive talks.

“We want to find a fair and reasonable settlement that recognises the vital role of NHS workers, the wider economic pressures facing the UK and the prime minister’s priority to halve inflation.”