Ambulance staff are set to be balloted over whether to strike in protest at what their union says is poverty pay.
South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb), which serves Brighton and Hove, is one of three ambulance trusts whose staff will be asked to take part in a strike vote.
A consultative ballot saw more than 90% of GMB members vote in favour of a walk out over the Government’s 4% pay offer – which with inflation soaring would equal a real-terms pay cut.
Lib Whitfield, GMB Regional Organiser, said: “The service being provided by ambulance trusts across the country has been chronically underfunded and staff have for too long been at breaking point with no sign of anything changing.
“Recent CQC reports have been less than complimentary to the management of these services and it is only thanks to the goodwill of the overworked and undervalued crews that the service continues to be as responsive as it is.
“GMB members are at breaking point and another year of not being able to pay their bills is a step too far for many.”
The other trusts being balloted are South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) and South Western Ambulance Service (SWAST). Dates will be announced in the coming days.
GMB Union has now announced formal strike ballots in all ten ambulance trusts in England.
Will anyone notice if the ambulance crews go on strike? We hear of so many excessively long delays, and people dying waiting for an ambulance, that most people probably assume they’re on strike already.