More than 1,500 ambulance workers have voted to strike across the North West.
Paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff are now set to walk out in the region, said the GMB union, over the Government’s four per cent pay award.
The GMB said it will now meet with reps in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Ambulance workers – like other NHS workers – are on their knees.
“Demoralised and downtrodden, they’ve faced 12 years Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the frontline of a pandemic and now face the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly – today shows just how desperate they are.
“This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay. A third of GMB ambulance workers think delays they’ve been involved with have led to the death of a patient.
“Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse. GMB calls on the Government to avoid a winter of NHS strikes by negotiating a pay award that these workers deserve.”
