Ambulance staff on Merseyside are considering strike action after their employers - the Merseyside Regional Ambulance Service Trust - double-crossed them over a new pay deal.
The technicians travel with paramedics responding to 999 calls and are a vital part of emergency healthcare teams.
Their pay package was to be determined by the evaluation panel of the Strategic Health Authority. Before the decision on March 2nd, the MRAS had said they would stand by the panel, sending out a letter saying it would be “would be binding on all parties”. However, when the panel recommended the technicians should receive pay equivalent to 'band 5' rather than 'band 4', the MRAS decided they wouldn't stand by a ruling they didn't like.
Since then, the MRAS have used different spoiling tactics in an attempt to lower the pay award, the full details of which can be read at the Ambulance Service Union site (
http://www.asu.org.uk/News_1.aspx?id=1:29694&id=1:28153).
Ambulance workers don't take the threat of strike action lightly, knowing how important their jobs are to the welfare of the general public. However, it is precisely because they serve us all so well that we should support them against their employers' dodgy dealings.
Their pay package was to be determined by the evaluation panel of the Strategic Health Authority. Before the decision on March 2nd, the MRAS had said they would stand by the panel, sending out a letter saying it would be “would be binding on all parties”. However, when the panel recommended the technicians should receive pay equivalent to 'band 5' rather than 'band 4', the MRAS decided they wouldn't stand by a ruling they didn't like.
Since then, the MRAS have used different spoiling tactics in an attempt to lower the pay award, the full details of which can be read at the Ambulance Service Union site (
http://www.asu.org.uk/News_1.aspx?id=1:29694&id=1:28153). Ambulance workers don't take the threat of strike action lightly, knowing how important their jobs are to the welfare of the general public. However, it is precisely because they serve us all so well that we should support them against their employers' dodgy dealings.