Northamptonshire ambulance crews join NHS nurses and midwives in strike ballots

Thousands of East Midlands Ambulance Service workers in Northamptonshire are being urged to vote to strike for the first time in 40 years.

Around 2,000 GMB Union members across the region will be balloted after 88 percent voted in favour of taking industrial action in protest over NHS pay.

The union says ambulance workers are angry over the Government’s imposed four percent pay award, which leaves them facing yet another massive real terms pay cut.

Stuart Richards GMB senior organiser said: “Ambulance workers should be out on the streets trying to save lives – instead they’re worrying about feeding their own families. It’s a national disgrace.

“The Conservatives have been in power for more than 12 years and during that time our ambulance services have crumbled.

“We now face the first ambulance strike in 40 years and it’s a damning indictment of their leadership.

“GMB Union will stand shoulder to shoulder with our members and fight for the above inflation pay rise that our NHS workers deserve.”

EMAS provides NHS ambulance services in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire as well as Northamptonshire

Strike ballots have also been announced among GMB members at West Midlands, Yorkshire and North East ambulance services.

Letters advising more than 200 NHS employers across England that health staff, including paramedics, theatre staff, occupational therapists, porters and nurses, are to be balloted for strike action have been sent by another of the biggest NHS unions, UNISON.

Royal College of Nursing members in Northamptonshire are also being urged to vote to strike for the first time in its 106-year history after it announced a ballot on Thursday (October 6).

And the Royal College of Midwives is also telling its members to back strike action in a ballot which opens on November 11.

The College’s executive director Dr Suzanne Tyler said: “The RCM has already called on the new Prime Minster to keep her promises and ‘deliver on the national health service’. One way to do that is to ensure staff are valued and paid fairly for what they do.

"It unfortunately appears they aren’t willing to listen or even acknowledge the workforce crisis engulfing our NHS. Our members are sending a very clear message to the Governments in England and Wales and one that must not be ignored any longer.”

The RCM has reassured both maternity staff and women and families that midwives will not take any type of action that would put women or babies at risk.

A spokesman added: “NHS employers will be given adequate notice of any type of industrial action. They will also work alongside RCM workplace representatives and maternity service managers to ensure there is cover during any work stoppages across and the delivery of safe care will not be compromised.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We value the hard work of NHS staff and are working hard to support them – including by giving over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.

“Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients.”