GMB Magazine GMB25 Centre Point Summer 2016 | Page 7

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ballot

BROKEN PROMISES
Ambulance service workers
have been let down.

Ambulance service decides next course of action

T

he UK’s ambulance service
is overworked, underpaid and
overstretched and cannot be
expected to keep responding
to 999 calls while the government does
nothing to ease the situation.
In response to this government’s broken
promises on pay, retirement age, career
progression and training, GMB has held
a consultative ballot with all members in the
ambulance service. Members were asked
what action they would be willing to take

to secure the promises made – and broken
– by Jeremy Hunt, with potential for an
industrial action ballot in the near future.
Rehana Azam, GMB national officer for the
NHS, said: “The government promised to
recognise the valuable skill-sets of ambulance
staff. They promised to invest in the
ambulance staff and service. The government
has failed to live up to their promises.”
Steve Rice, GMB chair of the Ambulance
Committee, said: “Ambulance staff are sick
and tired of being pu