Colleagues:
As you may already be aware, Unison NI Region is about to ballot their members on the prospect of taking industrial action in relation to pay. This is in keeping with our colleagues nationally.
From an NI Ambulance perspective, it is clear that current salaries fail to reflect the current working conditions, stressors, cost of living financial strains and increase in demand that our members and their families are suffering daily.
The below inflation pay rise recommended by the Pay Review Body will not protect working families against the spiralling costs of living. The absence of any funding behind that recommendation and the absence of a government in Northern Ireland has denied workers here access to this increase. The pay parity link regained after the last health strike in 2019 has been broken.
The ballot is set to commence on 27th October 2022 and is a postal ballot. Therefore, you can expect to receive your ballot forms, in the post, shortly after that date. The ballot form will be in a distinctive purple envelope. The ballot will ask 2 questions:
- Are you willing to take strike action?
- Are you willing to take action short of strike action? (ASOS)
Please answer both questions.
We wish to encourage all our members to return their completed ballot forms as soon as possible. Be assured we are not instructing our members how to vote, however, we are recommending a “YES” vote for industrial action. We believe that everyone should have the chance to have their say. Therefore, a high return is essential to ensure that the union’s subsequent actions accurately reflect our members’ feelings and wishes.
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