The walkout by the three main ambulance unions – Unison, GMB and Unite which will take place on the 21st December will affect non-life threatening calls only.
Unite says that the action is a `stark warning’ to the government that it must stem the crisis engulfing the NHS following ministers’ deliberate 12-year assault on pay.
Unite’s ambulance workers voted by up to 92 per cent for strike action.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself. These strikes are a stark warning – our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.
“Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.
“Ministers can’t keep hiding behind the pay review body. They know full well it does not address the desperate need to get huge numbers of NHS workers off the breadline.
“Fail to act now to avert these strikes and the blame will rest firmly at the government’s door.”
Throughout the strike, Unite will maintain essential emergency cover for patients.
Unite continues to ballot 10,000 more NHS workers at 38 different employers across England and Wales, with the results expected later this month.
In January 2023, Unite will extend the strike ballot to even more NHS workers as action to improve pay and staffing levels steps up.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said:
“Ambulance workers – like other NHS workers – are on their knees.
“Demoralised and downtrodden, they’ve faced twelve years Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the frontline of a global pandemic and now face the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.
“No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly – today shows just how desperate they are.
“This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay. A third of GMB ambulance workers think delays they’ve been involved with have led to the death of a patient.
“Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse.
“GMB calls on the Government to avoid a Winter of NHS strikes by negotiating a pay award that these workers deserve.”
