The Wrong Call
So the GMB union has joined Unite and Unison in rejecting a proposal for ambulance workers - to respond to all genuine emergency calls during their shifts.
At the moment ambulance crews can choose not to interrupt their tea breaks - a rather strange situation to say the least - which has drawn lots of criticism.
Understandably, because people have - literally - died waiting when the nearest ambulance crew preferred to finish their tea break - insterad of responding to a 999 call from a member of the public.
Now this is a crazy state of affairs - can you imagine a police officer, a firefighter, a doctor or a nurse insisting that their tea break comes first.
All that's being asked is that ambulance crews take their break - once the emergency is over - not that they shouldn't get a break at all.
The unions say that their members voted overwhelmingly to reject the latets proposal - but the obvious question is - 'What advice did GMB, Unite and Unison give to their members?'.
Because it's a real failure of leadership on the part of the trade unions - who often claim to be speaking for the public and service users - but on this occasion they're letting the public down.
So I say let's have a real debate - let's put the facts on the table - for example, how often do ambulance crews get disturbed in an average week or month?
Are we talking about a minor inconvenience or a major problem - so let's hear from the NHS officials who are supposed to be standing up for the interests of the public.
The unions seem to be saying that more money - a more generous offer from the employers will break the deadlock - but if so, then that's a disgraceful stance for the unions to take.
Because it's playing games with people's lives.
At the moment ambulance crews can choose not to interrupt their tea breaks - a rather strange situation to say the least - which has drawn lots of criticism.
Understandably, because people have - literally - died waiting when the nearest ambulance crew preferred to finish their tea break - insterad of responding to a 999 call from a member of the public.
Now this is a crazy state of affairs - can you imagine a police officer, a firefighter, a doctor or a nurse insisting that their tea break comes first.
All that's being asked is that ambulance crews take their break - once the emergency is over - not that they shouldn't get a break at all.
The unions say that their members voted overwhelmingly to reject the latets proposal - but the obvious question is - 'What advice did GMB, Unite and Unison give to their members?'.
Because it's a real failure of leadership on the part of the trade unions - who often claim to be speaking for the public and service users - but on this occasion they're letting the public down.
So I say let's have a real debate - let's put the facts on the table - for example, how often do ambulance crews get disturbed in an average week or month?
Are we talking about a minor inconvenience or a major problem - so let's hear from the NHS officials who are supposed to be standing up for the interests of the public.
The unions seem to be saying that more money - a more generous offer from the employers will break the deadlock - but if so, then that's a disgraceful stance for the unions to take.
Because it's playing games with people's lives.
