Ambulance trusts are moving to cut sick pay, in spite of continued warnings from UNISON that, if pay is docked, the union will begin an industrial action ballot.
From April 2013 – following changes to Agenda for Change – other NHS staff in England have not received unsocial hours’ payments when they are absent through sickness.
These staff are paid on the section two arrangements, in which an hour-for-hour formula is used for calculating out-of-hours pay.
Ambulance employers think that these changes should automatically apply to the Annex E payments that ambulance staff receive, in which a supplement is worked out and a capped percentage uplift is applied to basic pay. This could see staff losing up to 25% of their pay when sick.
The employers put formal proposals on the issue to the union in the summer, and members voted overwhelmingly to reject the planned deductions, saying that they would be willing to take industrial action if the employers went ahead and imposed the change.
All the English ambulance trusts have notified the union that they will be implementing the change, effective from 1 September 2013.
UNISON continues to talk to employers in order to prevent the deductions being made, but is also putting plans in place to run a formal ballot for industrial action if members have money docked.
Members should look out for more information from their branch.
“Ambulance staff do a difficult, stressful, often dangerous job and face a daily risk of injury, illness and violence at work. It is wrong for the employers to forge ahead with these proposals,” said UNISON national secretary Christina McAnea.
“We hear, day after day, about the pressure that paramedics and ambulance workers face, coupled with the rising number of 999 calls.
“Ambulance workers do not take industrial action lightly. They know that lives depend on their care and expertise. But feelings are running high and it is time that the employers recognised that the ambulance service is too vital play games with. We are calling on the employers to continue negotiations and find a way to resolve this.”