Ambulance workers accept new pay proposals after strike

Members and supporters of Siptu and Unite on the picket line outside Drogheda Ambulance Station (Liam McBurney/PA)

Ambulance workers have voted to accept new pay proposals after strike action earlier this year.

In May, frontline ambulance personnel in the Siptu and Unite unions staged a work stoppage amid a dispute with the HSE-run National Ambulance Service over pay and conditions.

The unions said qualifications, clinical responsibilities and operational duties of emergency medical technicians (EMT), paramedics, advanced paramedics, paramedic specialists and paramedic supervisors have expanded significantly in recent years.

They also said a 5% increase recommended under a previous process had not been delivered, and criticised conditions in a previous pay proposal around crew numbers and overtime changes.

They entered into direct talks with the HSE at the Labour Court aimed at resolving the matter.

Membership of the unions have accepted new proposals after ballots, announced on Friday.

The proposals include pay rises of up to 23% for paramedics and 20% for medical emergency technicians, as well as pay rises for other grades involved, depending on length of service.

Members of Siptu and Unite unions on the picket line outside a National Ambulance Service depot (Niall Carson/PA)

Ambulance sector organiser John McCamley said: “We welcome the overwhelming decision of Siptu members working in the National Ambulance Service in accepting these proposals.

“The result indicates that the Labour Court recommendation definitely addressed the issues at the heart of this dispute.

“These proposals will see our members receive the recognition and respect that they deserve by bringing them in line with other health professionals.”

He added: “It is deeply regrettable that Siptu members had to take industrial action to resolve this long-standing dispute.

“Ambulance personnel want to serve the public and carry out their duties. We hope that industrial relations within the National Ambulance Service will now improve and that such actions are not necessary in the future.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a huge win for our members and a seismic shift in pay but it is six years overdue.

“It is a disgrace that it took strike action by ambulance workers to bring the NAS to the table.

“Once again this victory demonstrates that workers organising in a union and being prepared to strike is the best way to secure real improvements on pay and basic respect from an employer.”