THE NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA Ambulance workers union has begun a job action in response to the NSW Government’s refusal to address their grievences.

One of them is the pay scale.  The Gov’t. made an offer, but the Union claims that it would have amounted to a lower paycheck.  Another is the wide-spread use of unsupervised trainees to work the calls.  There is a critical manpower shortage in the ambulance service causing the inexperienced medics to handle the assignments and the staff shortages are resulting in the crews being overworked and becoming exhausted.

Starting yesterday the ambulance crews are refusing to complete the paperwork needed after each call that generates the patient billing for the service.  In effect, everybody is now getting a free ride.

Another action beginning today is to refuse non-emergency transports.  The hospitals and doctors will normally utilize the ambulance service for basic transport and patient discharge transports.  However, the dispatchers are not accepting those calls now.

The Health Services Union will be holding a mass meeting in Sydney tomorrow to determine what the next step in the job action will be.

Read about it HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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