St John is asking the public to save ambulances for emergencies today during another strike by ambulance workers and call-centre staff.
Ambulance workers and call-centre staff began 24 hours of rolling strikes from 4am, in a repeat of Tuesday’s action.
Unions are warning that more strike action is likely, unless the government comes up with more cash for ambulance services.
St John spokesperson Dan Ohs said Saturdays were one of the busiest days of the week, with more people travelling, drinking alcohol, playing sport or doing DIY around the house and it was anticipated that St John’s capacity would be 70% of usual.
“That means that there is a risk of slightly higher demand, so that’s why we’re asking the community that if it is an emergency, by all means dial 111, we have good capacity for emergencies.
“But if it’s something non-urgent, we’re asking them to seek advice from Healthline or their local pharmacy.”
It is the first time ever that ambulance workers have voted to withdraw their labour, and follows nine months of bargaining without result.
St John workers on strike: The funding fight around the ambulance service
New Zealand Ambulance Association secretary Mark Quinn said members did not feel listened to.
“They’re disappointed and gutted, and even almost broken about the fact they’ve had to go this far to get recognition and publicity.”
Quinn said members knew walking off the job on a weekend for the first time ever was a huge deal, but it showed how “frustrated and desperate” they were.
“Yes it is a big deal, and we haven’t made this decision lightly. But our members have told us, told the union, that ‘we feel like we have no other way to get our point across because St John has not been actively listening, in terms of active progression of the pay dispute’.”
The unions are calling on the government to fully fund ambulance services.
FIRST Union spokesman Paul Watson said it was clear there was huge public support for a fully-funded ambulance service resourced to deal with patient needs.
The public did not want to see a continuation of the “zero-sum, imaginary bargaining every year when St John are due to provide pay increases”, he said.
“The government has not provided any indication of further funding for St John and we fear that we’ll be heading back to the bargaining table next week with no new information and no direction from those responsible for ensuring the smooth running of our ambulance services.”
Watson warned both FIRST Union and NZAA members were likely to vote this week on a series of further strike actions.
An indicative survey of FIRST Union members showed that over 90% of members would tentatively support further withdrawals of labour, and all options were on the table.
New Zealand Ambulance Association secretary Mark Quin said there had been significant support from both union members and the general public at various pickets around the country.
“It emphasises the importance of having a viable ambulance service in NZ that is well-funded and with ambulance officers, paramedics and communication staff paid accordingly in recognition of the role they do in the community and more so as sometimes the only health resource the general public can access in real time.
“NZAA will be reviewing the situation next week with FIRST Union but already NZAA members are indicating support for further withdrawals of labour and upwards of 12 hours per shift as opposed to the four hours tomorrow.”
However, Ohs from St John said he was hopeful that talks next week could break the impasse.
“We are meeting with our unions formally for bargaining on Thursday and Friday and we are optimistic that we can reach some kind of settlement.
“But, obviously, that’s a level of detail that we need to work through with unions across the table next week.”
There will also be pickets planned throughout Saturday at locations in Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin, Invercargill, Palmerston North, Whanganui and Whangārei.
rnz.co.nz