UNITE MEMBERS IN the National Ambulance Service are said to have voted “overwhelmingly” for industrial action, up to and including strike action.

It follows a similar move by SIPTU members on Wednesday.

SIPTU said the vote was an “indication of the depth of feeling within the service that their sacrifice and commitment over the last 20 years to the professionalisation and modernisation of the service have been forgotten about by the HSE”.

The Unite trade union today said the decision has been taken over HSE management’s “ongoing failure to implement the 2020 ‘Roles and Responsibilities Review’”.

The recommendations included updating staff salary scales to reflect changes in their responsibilities and workload over the past two decades.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said it is “scandalous that frontline healthcare workers who save lives every day should be waiting six years for their skills and expertise to be recognised”.

She said members have been left with “no option but to take action”.

Graham remarked that the qualifications, clinical responsibilities and operational duties of ambulance personnel have “expanded significantly in recent years”.

But while the 2020 ‘Roles and Responsibilities Review’ recommended enhanced pay scales to reflect the growing professionalisation of the service, Unite has said those recommendations have not been implemented.

Unite also say that a 5% increase recommended under the Benchmarking II process has not been delivered.

Elsewhere, Unite regional officer Eoin Drummey said ambulance staff have “waited long enough for recognition and respect”.

“If management wants to avoid industrial action, they need to stop dragging their feet and engage meaningfully with unions to resolve all outstanding issues”.

Earlier this week, the HSE said it has been involved in two years of engagement on the matter and that it has accepted both the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) proposals and a Labour Court recommendation.

The HSE spokesperson added that both SIPTU and Unite recommended these proposals and recommendations to their members for acceptance, but that these were rejected last year.

The HSE said it met with SIPTU and Unite on 17 February and “confirmed it was committed to entering further discussion, which included new pay scales that recognise past, present and future transformative change”.

However, the HSE spokesperson said this proposal was rejected by SIPTU and Unite, “who immediately advised of their intention to ballot for industrial action”.

The HSE said industrial action is “unwarranted and presents a potential for impact on service delivery to patients”.

It also said that the decision to ballot members for industrial action “would appear to be in contradiction to the provisions of the Public Service Agreement”.

The HSE pointed to section 4.4.2 of the agreement which reads: “The parties commit to remain in process with a view to concluding the Role and Responsibilities review in the National Ambulance Service.”