South Central Ambulance Service workers and thousands of NHS staff to strike before Christmas in pay row

Employees at South Central Ambulance Service and other health trusts will take to the picket lines after union members decided to take industrial action on December 21.

The GMB, Unison and Unite are co-ordinating the strikes across England and Wales – accusing the Government of ignoring pleas for a decent wage rise. The strike will happen a day after members of the Royal College of Nursing stage their second salary related walkout.

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Paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff will also walk out on December 28. GMB representatives will now meet with individual trusts to discuss requirements for life-and-limb cover.

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.’ Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: ‘Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself. These strikes are a stark warning – our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.

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‘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.

‘Ministers can’t keep hiding behind the pay review body. They know full well it does not address the desperate need to get huge numbers of NHS workers off the breadline. Fail to act now to avert these strikes and the blame will rest firmly at the Government’s door.’

Throughout the strike, Unite said it will maintain essential emergency cover for patients. Unite continues to ballot 10,000 more NHS workers at 38 different employers across England and Wales, with the results expected later this month.