By Adrian Roberts
The Morning Star
WILTSHIRE, England — Wiltshire ambulance workers have voted in favour of strike action over changes in shift patterns.
The Unison union said yesterday that the shift changes include different start times. In Wiltshire the majority of 12-hour shifts were 7am to 7pm or 7pm to 7am but now start times range between 5am and 9am or 5pm and 9pm.
Staff also have to work 75 per cent of weekends, as opposed to 50 per cent.
Unison South West regional organiser Simon Newell said: “There is an agreed disputes procedure. Despite this the trust’s management didn’t adhere to their own policies and implemented some of these changes. The trust threatened staff with dismissal if they didn’t agree to them in order to force their proposals through.
“Members have not taken any action up until now, but the results clearly demonstrate that our members feel these changes are detrimental to their working conditions and they are willing to take action if the trust refuses to retract the changes which were forcibly implemented and engage in proper consultation.”
But Great Western Ambulance Service chief executive David Whiting told the Salisbury Journal that the changes are about saving more lives.
“To do that, we need to ensure we have the trained staff and vehicles available when and where our patients need us,” he said.
“This is not about job cuts and it is not about cutting salaries.
“The changes to shift start and finish times were made so that we can keep as many staff on the road at any one time.”
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