15,000 ambulance workers will today vote on strike action over pay

MORE than 15,000 ambulance workers from across the country will today vote on strike action over pay.

Members of the GMB union are being balloted amid continuing industrial unrest in many sectors of the economy.

NHS workers in other unions, including nurses, are also being asked if they want to strike.

The GMB said ambulance staff at 11 trusts in England and Wales are angry at the Government’s imposed four per cent pay award — calling it “another massive real terms pay cut”.

Its action national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “Ambulance workers don’t do this lightly and this would be the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years.

“But more than ten years of pay cuts — plus the cost of living crisis — means workers cannot make ends meet. They are desperate.” She insisted the dispute is about safety as well as pay.

Ms Harrison said delays of up to 26 hours and 135,000 NHS vacancies means a third of GMB ambulance staff fear they have been involved in a delay that led to a death.

She added: “Ambulance workers have been telling the Government for years things are unsafe. No one is listening. What else can they do?”