UNISON UP-DATE

Dear Member

UNISON Yorkshire Ambulance Branch would like thank all members who supported the Strike action on Monday, yet again it was a great success and it is hoped it will put pressure on the government to open national negotiations to resolve the current pay dispute. Please remember our pay review body recommended only a 1% uplift for this year, the government is refusing to honour that minor amount, but is happy to hide behind their own pay review body when accepting a huge 11% increase for themselves, “all in it together” we don’t think so. UNISON will keep you informed of any developments.

Regarding PTS meal breaks, UNISON members have raised concerns in regards to the Trust changing the meal break window without any consultation. UNISON instructs all its PTS members to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any evidence of this. We are also expecting a decision shortly from the solicitors acting on behalf of one of our members in respect to the meal break subsistence challenge; we will keep you informed of any developments.

UNISON met with the Trust last Friday to discuss current A&E operational issues and to inform them of the branch mandates reached at recent meetings.

The main discussion points were

· ECA progression

· Advanced Technician Role

· Paramedic banding concerns

· Rota changes

· Annual leave issues

· Constitution of the future workforce

UNISON raised concerns with the Trust that even though there was a commitment to develop all current ECA members, and the fact that all band 4 members had been reinstated, very little progress had been made in regards to the actual development of current ECA staff. UNISON is pushing for all members to be offered the training and want to agree a job description, person specification, scope of practice and training package as a matter of urgency to address the current confusion around who can do what and when. It was agreed the issue will be further discussed at the next meeting on 3^rdDecember. UNISON also requested that current band 4 members who have had their protection lifted had that change reflected in their wage slip to ensure it had no detrimental effect on pensions etc.it was agreed this would be addressed with payroll.

UNISON informed the Trust that current band 5 Technicians had mandated the branch to discuss their role and negotiate an agreement in regards to banding issues, rota/station movement and potential enhancement of the role. UNISON made it clear that they could never agree to the down banding of the current band 5 Technician roles, equally we would fight their case if the Trust was to make the role redundant and put members formally at risk.

UNISON is fully aware that some members would welcome the possibility of redundancy, however, we would like to emphasise that the Trust has previously stated that the actual possibility of individual Technicians being made redundant is unlikely because a band 4 role with protection at base station would be deemed at suitable alternative employment.

UNISON Technician members believe there is a possible way forward in order to prevent the uncertainty and upset that a formal redundancy process would cause, and have mandated the Branch committee to negotiate the following,

…………..any band 5 Technician who is willing to carry on working to the band 5 level and either progress to paramedic or take on extra training/updating, would be willing to move to the “band 5” side of the rota or band 5 vacancy at nearby station (criteria to be discussed) would keep their band 5 status, or, Technician members could opt to stay on their current line and be pay protected for 5 years obviously working to the agreed band 4 scope of practice……………..

The Trust confirmed that the position of Technicians would be fully resolved within the next four weeks and therefore would give a position statement to staff-side within the next two weeks – i.e. by 5 December 2014.

UNISON also insisted that the Paramedic role be reviewed and re-evaluated for the following reasons

· A formal A4C review request was lodged by Paramedic members months ago

· A national discussion is taking place around the Paramedic training/entry requirements which is likely to become BSc level within the next few months

· Other ambulance Trusts are now paying band 6 for Paramedics

· The changes in the role since the last evaluation i.e. P1, P2 and P3

· A national shortage of Paramedics to fulfil vacancies

UNISON has now formally requested that the Paramedic role be “matched” and re-evaluated against the clinical advisor role within the EOC

UNISON described how many of the current rotas were having a negative effect on many members and insisted the Trust adhered to what had been agreed around the taking out of 12hr shifts in ten hour rotas, putting the shortfall of hours into the week, and review any rota where a station has requested/need changes. UNISON and the Trust have now agreed to change the rotas highlighted above and will start the consultation/meetings in the South CBU moving into other areas ASAP.

UNISON also highlighted concerns around the application of the annual leave policy and stated some members have reported having leave cancelled even though the 20% had not been booked on that specific station. Both UNISON and the Trust would like to clarify that leave IS allocated per station and NOT per CBU and should not be refused unless there is more that 20% already allocated, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you experience any issues.

As previously stated UNISON is meeting with the Trust for a full day of negotiations on 3^rd December, we will keep you fully up-dated.

EOC members recently raised concerns around the proposed rota changes and UNISON relayed the issues back to the Trust during the consultation period.  UNISON now understands a new vote has taken place within Wakefield EOC and hope this will address many members concerns, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any comments. UNISON would also like to thank members who took the time to complete the rota survey.

The new meal break policy is now up and running and UNISON would like to clarify how we got to the current situation.

When the meal breaks were between the 4th and 6th hour, a lot of members stated that they would prefer to return to two breaks. There was no possibility of having two protected run backs for breaks as the Trust could not sustain the lost cover. This led to the previous meal break being trialled, with some flexibility built in due to the breaks being interchangeable, one unpaid at base and one paid at a suitable location (although ‘suitable location’ appeared to have be open to interpretation).

The feedback from this trial was even more unfavourable with staff suggesting that opting for the 30 minutes first was too early in the shift, yet opting for the 30 minutes in the second window was leading to staff not having breaks at all, or using the meal break for a protected run back in order to finish on time.

After running a survey monkey questionnaire, with over 450 responses, plus collating the verbal and electronic feedback from members it became evident that the majority of members wanted UNISON to negotiate a single meal break in the middle of the shift, hence the trial of the new meal break policy. The survey monkey results were emailed to members on the 20/10/14, and are now displayed on www.uyab.co.uk and on our Facebook page.

UNISON is fully aware this flyer will generate many questions and ask members to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions and emphasise that the whole workforce plan package will go to a full members vote.