Yorkshire Ambulance workers to stage one day strike (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Yorkshire Ambulance workers to stage one day strike

2:54pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Matt Westcott

AMBULANCE workers in Yorkshire will stage a one-day strike on April 2 in a row over cuts, the Unite union said today.

The union says the dispute is over patient safety and derecognition of Unite, the country’s largest union.

Unite said today that its 450 paramedics and other ambulance staff members had also voted "overwhelmingly" to institute a continuous overtime ban from March 26.

Unite regional officer Terry Cunliffe said: “Unite calls for the management to open constructive negotiations in the run-up to April 2. This is a final window of opportunity for the trust to resolve this situation for the benefit of the Yorkshire public.

“The management has been trying to silence Unite after it raised legitimate concerns over patient safety that could flow from the shake-up of ambulance services in the next five years.

“Now our members have voted for strike action on April 2 and for a continuous overtime ban from March 26.

“It shows the depth of concern that our members feel about patient safety because of the £46m of savings that managers want to implement.

“The hardline management has responded by derecognising Unite and twice rejecting our attempts to take this dispute to Acas and to discuss the implications of industrial action.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service is yet to respond to the news.