Paramedics in NSW will start a week of strike action following nearly six months of tense negotiations over a pay rise deal.
The Australian Paramedics Association NSW announced the seven-day strike would begin immediately and members would refuse staff movements and to respond to non-emergency patient transfer jobs that could be otherwise taken by Patient Transport services.
APANSW president Brett Simpson said paramedics were more burnt out than ever after the pandemic and many were moving interstate for better conditions.
“(Paramedics have) seen inflation and the cost of living skyrocket, and yet they’re in for a Christmas without a pay rise from a government supposedly elected to support them,” he said.
“It’s utterly shameful.”
The association represents a small share of paramedics, with the majority represented by the rival Health Services Union.
But the HSU has also threatened industrial action as it undertakes its own pay talks with the government.
Wage rises were capped under the previous coalition government, throttling unions’ ability to negotiate on pay.
While the Minns Labor government has scrapped that cap, its offer of a four per cent wage rise to all public-sector workers is unpalatable to paramedics aligned to both the HSU and APA.
– AAP
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