SIPTU members in the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are to ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike action, in a dispute concerning attempts to outsource inter-hospital transfers in the Greater Dublin Area to the private sector.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, John McCamley, said: “This dispute has arisen from the decision of ambulance management to undertake a tendering process to outsource inter-hospital transfers without consultation, engagement or sharing of information with the trade unions representing NAS staff. Inter-hospital transfers can and are carried out by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) working in the NAS Intermediate Care Service. SIPTU members fear that other such processes will now take place to outsource this work in other parts of the country.
“This ballot follows the overwhelming rejection by SIPTU members of recent WRC proposals on the future of the ambulance service which included changes to emergency ambulance crewing models. These changes would see EMTs partnered with a single paramedic in contrast to the present minimum standard of two paramedics or advanced paramedics.
SIPTU members saw this proposal as an attempt to deal with staffing shortages without offering any commitments to recruit additional staff. The outsourcing of inter-hospital transfers is now seen by SIPTU members as NAS management attempting to introduce this change without agreement, as EMTs will see an increase in emergency calls to make up for staffing shortages of paramedics and advanced paramedics.
He added: “This attempt to outsource our members’ roles is a blatant breach of the Public Service Agreement protocols on outsourcing and on procedures around consultation and engagement. It has left our members with no other option but to ballot for industrial action up to and including strike action.
“Our members will not stand by and allow their work to be outsourced without a fight. To allow this unilateral action by management to go unchallenged will directly diminish our members’ terms and conditions of employment. SIPTU calls on the HSE and Department of Health to properly staff and fund the ambulance service and pull back from any outsourcing of our members’ work to avoid any industrial action in this vital service.”
SIPTU represents around 2,000 ambulance personnel working as EMTs, paramedics, advanced paramedics, ambulance supervisors, ambulance officers and control centre staff.