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Ambulance Service Dispute
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by PANORAMA reporter
The Ambulance Service are taking industrial action as from today, in an ongoing behind-the-scenes confrontation as employees seek recognition of their position as shift workers.
Staff held a meeting last night. It is said morale is at a low level and that 'crews are fed up.'
Another point that is being made is that they are not asking for a pay rise. But they want recognition of their rights as shift workers and the benefits that come with it.
The ambulance is an emergency service, and the employees are very conscious of this. After many meetings and deliberations with management, and with tempers rising, there were some suggestions that should negotiations prove unsuccessful, the level of industrial action taken should be of a draconian nature. "However," said a source," the members of the ambulance service are caring individuals whose training and high moral character make them feel they cannot expose the public to such a dangerous scenario."
'THREATS'
What has made matters worse are what are described as threats from the official side, such as the bringing of Spanish medics from across the frontier as a contingency to cover any indusrial action.
"This is not an acceptable alternative or option to members of the ambulance service," we were told.
They say that, regrettably, they have to take some type of selective industrial action if their rightful status and associated benefits are not recognised. They feel thay have to make their grievances known.
Uniforms may not be worn, while t-shirts have been printed with the message "Ambulance YES; Ambulancia NO".
In union circles it was regarded as a serious and dangerous precedent for Gibraltar workers if people and services from Spain were to be brought into this jurisdiction in times of indutrial strife.
The dispute has been simmering for about a year, even if it has not surfaced in the public domain. But employees feel that they have a moral obligation to advise the public of what is going on and to keep the public further informed of developments.
The staff, who number about 30, have been in negotiations to have their position as shift workers recognised with the related benefits attaching to it, as is the case with other shift workers who are properly compensated. At the moment, the Government "say we are shift workers but not for salary or benefit purposes. They refuse to recognise the ambulance service in this capacity."
'ESSENTIAL SERVICE'
But the other emergency services have rightly had their services reognised. "We are asking only to be brought up to the same level and to be given what we are rightly entitled to as shift workers," they say. "We work in a very isolated environment with limited resources. We have to be fast, professional and caring and sensitive to the patients' needs and privacy. We ask only to be recognised for our contribution as an essenial service."
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