Ambulance strike dates announced as paramedics walk out days before Christmas – full list
More than 10,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales will strike days before Christmas in a bitter dispute over pay.
Three unions today announced the dates members will walk out, co-ordinating industrial action for Wednesday 21 December.
Members of the GMB union – who include paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff – will also walk out on Wednesday 28 December.
But not all union members at all ambulance trusts backed strike action, with some unions at some services failing to meet strict turnout thresholds set by the Tory government.
While GMB members met the threshold for strikes at nine ambulance services, Unison members met the threshold at five services and Unite met the threshold at three.
It is part of a wave of strikes across health services, railways and the public sector after NHS staff were offered a pay rise worth as little as 4%, despite soaring inflation.
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Leon Neal/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
The strike will happen a day after Royal College of Nursing members stage their second walkout, also over pay.
And RMT members are hurtling towards four days of action next week at train firms – plus a Network Rail walkout from 6pm on Christmas Eve – after rejecting a 4%-a-year pay rise offer.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch admitted services would wind down more quickly than usual on Christmas Eve, and people will have to leave “early” for festive getaways.
Yet Rishi Sunak did not raise the strikes at this morning’s Cabinet meeting, despite days left to avert chaos on the railways in the run-up to Christmas.
Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said the ‘militant’ Tory Government was to blame, adding: “When I speak to the trade unions they’re very clear they do not want to go on strike, they want to resolve this dispute.”
On the railways, the government is still trying to force “minimum service levels”, which would mean workers having to break strikes. But Downing Street refused to confirm a timescale for a divisive move.
The PM’s spokesperson said “unions still have time to step back” and avert some of the “misery” the public face.
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For the ambulance service strikes, union representatives will now meet with individual trusts to discuss requirements for life-and-limb cover.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself.
“Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.”
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “After 12 years of Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, NHS staff have had enough.
“The last thing they want to do is take strike action but the Government has left them with no choice.
“Health Secretary Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay. If he can’t talk to us about this most basic workforce issue, what on Earth is he Health Secretary for?
“The Government could stop this strike in a heartbeat – but they need to wake up and start negotiating on pay.”
GMB union members
- South West Ambulance Service: 21st December, 06:00 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- South East Coast Ambulance Service: 21st December, 06:00 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- North West Ambulance Service: 21st December, 00:01 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- South Central Ambulance Service: 21st December, 06:00 – 18:00. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- North East Ambulance Service: 21st December, 00:01 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- East Midlands Ambulance Service: 21st December, 06:00 – 05:59. 28th December, 06:00 – 05:59
- West Midlands Ambulance Service: 21st December, 00:01 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- Welsh Ambulance Service: 21st December, 00:01 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
- Yorkshire Ambulance Service: 21st December 00:01 – 23:59. 28th December, 00:01 – 23:59
UNISON union members
Ambulance crews working for five services in England – London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West – are to go on strike over pay and staffing on Wednesday 21 December, says UNISON.
The strike involving paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians and other 999 crew members will run from midday to midnight.
Separately a strike at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Liverpool University Hospital starts at 07.30 on Wednesday 21 December and ends 24 hours later.
UNISON is also about to begin reballoting around 13,000 NHS staff working for ten trusts and ambulance services where turnout in the recent strike vote fell just short of the threshold required by law.
Unite union members
More than 1,600 workers at the West Midlands, North West and North East ambulance service trusts will strike on Wednesday 21 December 2022, said Unite.
Unite continues to ballot 10,000 more NHS workers at 38 different employers across England and Wales, with the results expected later this month.