Dear Member,
We are aware of some of the comments and concerns from our members over the past few days; we would therefore like to reiterate our position with regards to the meal break situation and other issues.
MEAL BREAKS.
Our position is very clear; we have today issued the Trust with notice that if the meal breaks are suspended from midday today onwards due to internal major incident, eg DMP level 4 or above, then it is highly likely, after discussion at the Branch Committee meeting next Tuesday, an industrial action ballot of members will take place.
We cannot accept that our members are not being allowed a meal break when working 10 hours and above. The work demand alone is putting constant pressure on members, fatigue is setting in, and this on top of no meal break and late finishes is bringing clinicians to question whether they are fit to continue to carry out their duties whilst on shift.
Unison stand by our comments in yesterday’s update, ‘UNISON will never agree that members should be forced to carry food on vehicles, take their breaks away from base station or have to eat at A&E departments, the Trust also need reminding that the meal break is unpaid so members cannot be forced to be available’.
DO WE BELIEVE UNISON OR THE TRUST?
This is the question we realise members will be asking themselves; we can only hope that in your own areas, you will know individual reps well enough to be assured that what we are saying is true.
We believe the notice put out by the Trust was misleading, in as much as the wording was chosen carefully, for those of us present at this meeting, we can assure you discussions took place but we could not and did not agree to what the Trust have imposed. We disagree on the whole scenario of what constitutes a MAJAX, we know what our members believe constitutes a MAJAX and high patient demand does not.
If members saw the branch committee group texts, you would be left in no doubt as to our opinions!!
NO UNISON REPRESENTANTIVES AVAILABLE OVER THIS PERIOD.
Please be aware there were Unison reps available both by e mail, telephone and in person during the Christmas/New Year period.
Some of us were on the road over all the Xmas period and will be over the New Year, we experienced the exact same working conditions as our members.
If you tried to contact one of us without success, we would like to apologise, please use the mobile numbers in the Unison diary and go down the list until you get a response. Do not worry if it’s not your area rep any one of us will endeavour to assist you.
In the future, we will try to provide you with a list of reps that are on duty over periods such as this.
GOING FORWARD.
The timescales for work to have taken place under the ACAS agreement is the 17th January; this will soon be upon us.
The Paramedic evaluation is due to take place, the Band 4 job description and Scope of Practise plus training requirements will be agreed and the Technician situation and uncertainty will be resolved.
The South have now seen their new rotas and had meetings, Central area will be available within the next couple of weeks, followed by Hull/East. For stations who no longer want 12 hr shifts, they become a thing of the past.
There is much work still to be done, on top of our daily representing of our members individually and we cannot do this without your support.
We are a member led union, we are here to represent your views, give these to us constructively, stick together and get the best we can moving forward.
There is strength in numbers, the only reason we were able to get any of the above is because of your determination and support.
Please continue this and together we can and will get through this difficult period.
Another update will be sent out after the branch committee on Tuesday the 6th January unless we have further developments prior to then.
Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions
