'We want a pay rise to reflect the hard work we're putting in'

Ambulance workers in the south east are back on strike in an escalation of industrial action by members of Unite the union who voted to reject the government NHS pay offer.

An escalation strategy has been launched to put greater pressure on the government in hopes of reopening pay negotiations, as Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called on ministers to make a “proper wage offer” to NHS workers.

It comes after NHS members of Unite voted last month to reject the government’s offer of a below inflation 5% pay rise and a lump sum cash payment for 2022/23, which has now been imposed on NHS staff.  

Graham said the current offer, “does nothing to resolve the recruitment and retention crisis crippling the NHS.”

Speaking from the picket line today, Daniel, an ambulance rep in Portsmouth told LFF why he thought Unite members chose to continue fighting for a better deal for them and their patients.

Reflecting on the issue of staff retention, Dan said that over the past year his area has lost around 60 paramedics to other primary care roles, offering more stable work hours and a set working pattern Monday to Friday.

“This has a knock-on effect on everybody else, but it’s never taken personally,” said Dan. “We understand that people are doing this for their own welfare, their family’s benefit and a better work-life balance. But it has had a visible impact.

“Everybody who goes into the job understands there is always going to be late and night shifts.

“But the ambulance service becomes a one-stop-shop for a lot of other services, especially Friday night through to Monday morning.

“I think that reflects on the pressures that people are feeling both in the ambulance service, in A and E and hospital wards.”

For Dan and his colleagues, the number one priority has always been patient safety, with many workers feeling the need to keep striking because “nothing else is being heard”, and that the latest pay offer does not address their concerns.

“Patient safety is key because we are in the job to help people, and we don’t want to go out on strike.

“The fact that we have struck for two days now in this area is a testament to just how serious people are about needing a better pay offer to be able to avoid going to Food Hubs and Food Banks.”

Asked why he thinks NHS workers with Unite chose to reject the pay offer whilst other union members didn’t, Dan reflected that Unite members represent a larger number of blue-collar workers who are greatly involved in frontline services.

“I like to explain Unite the Union as more of a blue-collar union,” said Dan.

“It’s people who are involved at all tiers of industry, and a lot of people that are out on the ground, like for example our branch in the ambulance sector.

“Other unions like GMB and Unison, you could consider them to be more white collar, a lot more office-based workers.

“Their division of membership might be a bit more heavily inclined towards office work rather than people who are out on the ground.

“So I think this is definitely reflected in Unite whereby we have such a diverse membership in all sorts of industries who are willing to get involved.”

Dan is about to finish a two-year paramedic apprenticeship but has been in the ambulance service for nearly a decade. 

Starting his apprenticeship at the height of the Covid pandemic, Dan reflected that worker burnout post-pandemic has been worse than during Covid itself, and that a 5% pay rise doesn’t stand in the face of what NHS workers went through over the past years.

“Everybody pulled up their bootstraps and got to work during Covid despite the heightened risks.

“But now it just seems all that hard work is forgotten and the burnout is much worse, mostly because of a lack of recognition for this work and certainly with government not putting the money where their words were after making promises.”

He added: “The last meaningful pay offer was 2011/2012, and if you compare the pay now to the pay then and the cost of living, it is a huge impact.”

Research by The Health Foundation found that NHS wages at the start of the pandemic had fallen in real terms by over £600 per employee since 2011.

“This is why we’re fighting for more,” Dan said.

“It’s not because we’re being greedy, it’s not because we want to be able to go part time on that money.

“We just want it to reflect the hard work we’re putting into all those shift hours and the cost of living around that hard work we’re putting in.”

Unions split

Unions were split over accepting or rejecting the latest pay deal from the government, with Unite members voting by 52% to reject it, along with The Royal College of Podiatry and the Society of Radiographers.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also voted to reject the offer, with the nurses’ union getting ready to ballot members for further strike action, hoping to secure a new strike mandate which is required by law every six-months.

While health workers with GMB union, Unison, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy accepted the terms and agreed to end their strikes.

Members with Unite will be balloted on further industrial action to expand the number of workers able to strike and to put further pressure on the government.

The strike by workers at South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust and South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust will take place from 12pm until 10pm today, Tuesday 9 May.

Hannah Davenport is trade union reporter at Left Foot Forward

(Photo credit: Karen Lewis / GMB Union)

Left Foot Forward’s trade union reporting is supported by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust

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