Ambulance strike to go ahead as union boss says talks with government were 'an insult'
9 January 2023, 12:51 | Updated: 9 January 2023, 14:15
Strikes by Ambulance workers in England and Wales will go ahead later this month after talks between union bosses and the health secretary collapsed.
A representative for the Unite union said there was no detailed discussion pay and confirmed strikes by ambulance workers will go ahead on January 23.
The talks with Health Secretary Steve Barclay were described as ‘an insult’ and negotiations are said to have ‘gone backwards.’
Unite negotiator Onay Kasab said the Government told the union they would need to “justify” a payment through productivity.
The strike of ambulance workers will “absolutely” go ahead on Wednesday as a result, he said.
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Another strike will take place on January 23.
Mr Kasab accused ministers of focusing on productivity instead of pay which he said was "an insult" to his members.
Asked if a one-off payment had been mentioned in talks, he said he said: “No, no, all the Government are interested in is saying that in order to justify a payment we need to … come up with productivity in the NHS.
“That is absolutely ludicrous. This isn’t a factory we’re talking about, we’re talking about people who are working well beyond their contracted hours anyway just to get the job done because … they care so much.
“So, for the Government to be talking about productivity in exchange for a (payment) is an insult to every single one of our members.”
Other union representatives were slightly more positive following the meeting, with Unison's head of health Sara Gorton saying there had been some progress.
But Ms Gorton added that there had been "no tangible commitments" and the scheduled walkouts would go ahead.
She said: "It was a very civil meeting. We did actually manage to talk about pay. We didn't get the tangible concessions that we might have hoped or that would enable us to call off the strikes later this week and next.
"But it was definitely progress, we were in a room with the Secretary of State, talking about pay. I think he has asked for our help to help with the Treasury to make the case for investment in pay.
"We will certainly do that but we didn't get the tangible outcome that we were hoping for."
Meanwhile, the GMB union said no new cash offer was made by the government and nothing solid on pay for next year either.
It means ambulance walkouts planned for January 11 and 23 are expected to go ahead.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last week he wanted to have a “grown up, honest conversation with union leaders about what is responsible, what is reasonable and what is affordable for our country when it comes to pay".
