Ambulance workers plan further action

(September 2016) The British Medical Association (BMA) has announced plans for four periods of industrial action in protest at the government's decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors. Junior doctors voted by 58% to 42% to reject the revised contract which they say fails to deal with problems relating to part-time work (affecting mainly women) and also working at weekends. The union has suspended action planned for September but action planned for 5 October will go ahead unless the government agrees to negotiate. Read more at BMA.

The four unions representing home care workers in the Basque region (ELA, LAB, UGT and USO) have planned further work stoppages as part of their long-running campaign to end the pay freeze and negotiate new collective agreements. Two three-hour stoppages will take place on 25 and 31 May. There will also be a protest outside the Mungia town hall on the 25th and workers will surround the Bilbao town hall on the 31st. The unions are targeting local authorities for allowing the contracting out of home care services without any minimum prices specified and no hours guaranteed for the workers. The

The FNV trade union is refusing to sign a new collective agreement covering the ambulance sector arguing that it fails to deliver on pay and jobs. Indeed, the union says that pay rates in the agreement are below those paid by agencies and so the agreement will do nothing to stem the flow of workers out of direct employment in the sector. The FNV organised a petition signed by over 2000 ambulance staff calling for better pay and action on jobs and hours but the head of the ambulance service didn't event meet FNV members to accept the petition. A two-hour work stoppage was organised in the