More than 15,000 ambulance workers across 11 trusts in England and Wales are to begin voting on strike action today (Monday, 24 October).
Thousands more NHS workers will also be balloted across other NHS trusts, with more votes set to follow.
Ambulance workers from South West Ambulance Trust – which covers the Burnham-On-Sea area – will take part in the vote, which closes on 29th November.
The trusts taking part in the vote include East Of England Ambulance Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, London Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, Norh West Ambulance Service, South Central Ambulance Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, South West Ambulance Service, Welsh Ambulance Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
Workers say they are angry over the Government’s imposed four per cent pay award – a real terms pay cut – as well as unsafe staffing levels across the ambulance service.
Rachel Harrison, GMB Acting National Secretary, says: “Ambulance workers don’t do this lightly – and this would be the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years.”
“But more than ten years of pay cuts, plus the cost-of-living crisis, means workers can’t make ends meet. They are desperate.”
“But this is much more about patient safety at least as much about pay. Delays up to 26 hours and 135,000 vacancies across the NHS mean a third of GMB ambulance workers think a delay they’ve been involved with has led to a death.”
“Ambulance workers have been telling the Government for years things are unsafe. No one is listening. What else can they do?”
