The other unions have written a joint response stating that they will now review their options. The GMB held a branch meeting on the day we found out the outcome and yes we were notified by way of the global email that was sent out to staff.
When we asked why we didn’t receive notification at the same time as the other unions we were told we hadn’t signed up to the terms of reference (ToR) so they didn’t feel the need to notify us.
Well they are right we didn’t sign up or agree the ToR so are not bound by its terms. We have today written to the trust to initiate an appeal of this outcome.
The anger of those paramedics at the branch meeting was palpable; they insisted that this issue is not one they are willing to walk away from and asked the branch to escalate the current action.
The Branch passed a vote of no confidence in the Trust Board and Executive management team of NWAS, they have been notified of this and we await a response.
Following this meeting the branch has asked the regional to make the necessary arrangements to ballot our paramedic members again to ensure any action can continue past November.
The GMB industrial action committee meets today to discuss forms of action prior to the region formally notifying the Trust of our intentions. We will of course inform all members of the decisions taken today once the arrangements have been finalised.
We plan to meet both unison and unite at the regular joint staff side meeting next Wednesday when the issue will be discussed.
We have also made arrangements to meet with all North West MPs at the Houses of Parliament on the 14th of this month, to discuss this ongoing issue and any other ambulance related issues that they wish to talk about.
We are currently taking legal advice on the issue to consider submitting a judicial review of the process that was used to deliver this outcome.
We continue to call for an independent investigation into the whole process to date and will ask those MPs we meet to support us on this issue.
We will continue to fight this injustice until we achieve a resolution that is acceptable to our members and will enlist the support of all and anyone who is willing to assist in this matter.
In the meanwhile the Trust senior management merry-go-round continues to turn with “interims” and “heads of” hopping on and off at will. et’s hope the new CEO is one with ability to resolve issues as they arise and not let things fester in the way the para JE issue has.
