Local staff join strike

Local ambulance workers joined more than 2,000 SIPTU and Unite members in the National Ambulance Service (NAS) in strike action on Tuesday of this week as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and workloads.

The one-day stoppage involved emergwency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, advanced paramedics, paramedic specialists and paramedic supervisors across the country, including local ambulance personnel.

Union members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action last month, citing what they described as management’s ongoing failure to implement the recommendations of the 2020 “Roles and Responsibilities Review”.

The dispute centres on the failure to introduce updated pay scales recommended in an independent review, which examined how ambulance workers’ duties and clinical responsibilities have expanded over the past two decades.

Further strike action is planned for May 19 and May 26, with additional industrial action expected in June.

A total of 12 Tullamore workers were on the picket line at Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore, where Tullamore Ambulance Station is located.

Three ambulances were available in the case of life-threatening calls.

Ambulance crews were joined by staff from the Emergency Department at Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore during the morning, as well as other supporters and passing motorists.

SIPTU Ambulance Sector Organiser John McCamley said the ambulance service has evolved significantly in recent years.

“Over the years, ambulance personnel have implemented changes within the service, seeing the model move away from patient transport to a higher level of pre-hospital care and treatment,” he said.

“Since 2011, EMTs and paramedics have increased their responsibility for administering various medications by 89% and 83% respectively. All we are asking is that, like other health professionals, their training and qualifications are respected and recognised in an appropriate pay and grading structure.”

The unions say ambulance personnel now carry out far more advanced clinical and operational duties than in the past, but that these changes have not been reflected in pay or grading structures.

They also claim a separate five per cent pay increase recommended under the Benchmarking II process has yet to be implemented.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said ambulance workers had waited too long for recognition.

“It is scandalous that these frontline workers have been waiting for six years for their skills and expertise to be recognised. They have Unite’s full support in their fight for decent pay and respect,” she said.

Both SIPTU and Unite are calling on the HSE to implement the recommendations of the independent report “without preconditions” and introduce enhanced pay scales that reflect the level of training and responsibility now required of ambulance personnel.