More ambulance workers to strike after early May bank holiday

Ambulance workers in the south of England and West Midlands will strike just after the early May bank holiday, the Unite union has said.

The timing will mean staff walking out at the same time as nurses across parts of England.

The Christie cancer service in Manchester, and hospitals in Birmingham and Lancashire will also be affected.

Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham said the government's pay offer was "not good enough" for her members.

The government described the decision as "premature and unreasonable", with thousands of members still voting on its latest pay offer.

Unite said staff it represents will go on strike on Tuesday 2 May in:

• South Central Ambulance Trust

• South East Coast Ambulance Trust

• West Midlands Ambulance Trust

• The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Pathology Partnership

• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

• West Birmingham NHS Trust

The union has already announced strikes on the previous day - 1 May - at the Yorkshire ambulance service and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust in central London.

• When are nurses and ambulance workers striking?

Unite is the smallest of the three unions which represent ambulance workers, alongside Unison and the GMB. About 2,000 paramedics, call handlers and other staff working for ambulance trusts are expected to walk out across the two days in May.

Thousands of nurses are also expected to strike between 30 April and 2 May in about half of the NHS trusts in England.

The Royal College of Nursing, whose members rejected the government's latest pay offer, said emergency departments, intensive care and cancer services would be affected for the first time.

Members of Unison union, which represents ambulance crews and a smaller number of other staff including nurses, have accepted the same pay deal.

The government offered a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up last year's salary.

The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors.

Ms Graham said: "Unite has been up front and honest that it did not believe that the pay offer was good enough for NHS workers. A lump sum payment and yet another real terms pay cut doesn't meet the challenges faced by NHS workers.

"Where our members have indicated that they want to swiftly return to the picket line, Unite is ensuring they are able to do so."

Unite members are able to vote on the latest pay offer up to 28 April.

"The deal on the table is a fair and generous one, proven by the fact that Unison members voted overwhelmingly to accept it," said a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care.

"Thousands of staff continue to vote in ballots for other unions over the next two weeks and we'd urge them to vote in favour, because further strikes are in no-one's best interest - least of all patients."