Around 1000 ambulance workers to begin strikes today

Brian from New Lynn

St John ambulance crews across the country will refuse to attend non-emergency event work in what FIRST Union says is: "Their fight for including shift recognition payments to reflect their unsociable and physically tolling seven-day-a-week, rotating shift pattern." Ambulance staff work a 12-hour shift pattern that rotates over days, nights and weekends. FIRST Union says the ambulance workers previously received shift recognition payments for night and weekend work, similar to other DHB-related services like nurses. However, St John claims this has been incorporated into the hourly rate. FIRST Union transport logistics and manufacturing divisional secretary Jared Abbott says that explaination doesn't fly. "The starting rate is below $20 an hour, if recognition payments for night and weekend work are factored into this, many ambulance professionals would have to be on below the minimum wage," he said. "To claim that the current rates account for shift recognition is incorrect. New Zealand’s ambulance professionals are amongst the lowest paid in the developed world." Mr Abbott says the first strike notice was served on St John this week for a ban on recalls to events, meaning frontline ambulance staff will not cover work where other staff have been removed from duty to do commercial event work. "Our members feel very strongly about ensuring that patient safety is maintained during any industrial action. "Event work, which is commercial income for St John, often gets priority over frontline services, so by refusing to come off the frontline to cover events actually makes more ambulance officers available for the public service."
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