St John First Union members are walking off the job in a tussle to obtain the pay they signed for. Photo / File
St John First Union members are walking off the job in a tussle to obtain the pay they signed for. Photo / File
St John workers who are members of First Union are set to walk off the job this month causing possible delays for the public.
St John is working on a contingency plan to reduce the "negative impact" to the public.
About 1100 union members will go on strike on November25 after a breakdown in negotiations with St John around shift rates, proposed salary cuts and changes to rosters.
The union says its members are being taken advantage of but St John believes its latest pay offer is an improvement.
St John is currently in collective wage bargaining with three unions, two of which have taken the offer to their members for ratification.
Union organiser Sarah Stone said St John was now "reneging" on the agreement and using money set aside for shift pay and communications staff remuneration to address the skilled pay gap elsewhere in their workforce instead.
She claimed St John was refusing to pay the 1.25 shift rate agreed to after bargaining last year and during bargaining St John confirmed they want to remove the minimum staffing levels, hours and places of work from the Collective Agreement.
"Members are taking action after being taken advantage of by their employer for far too long."
Members want the agreement they signed honoured, she said.
Bay of Plenty paramedic Alex McPherson said the money doesn't change much but makes the job an easier pill to swallow. Photo / File
St John believes its latest pay offer is an improvement, touting it as the biggest pay correction in the history of the ambulance service.
Deputy chief executive of ambulance operations Dan Ohs said the offer made to ambulance staff was significant, including 1.15 shift rates and committing to maintain predictable rostering arrangements.
"An experienced paramedic stands to increase their take-home pay from $76,000 to over $93,000," Ohs said.
"It is important to note that no staff member, including staff in our ambulance communications centres, has their take-home pay reduced under this offer."
The pay rates were recommended after an independent remuneration review, Ohs said, and an ambulance officer's base salary and pay progression had been increased "more significantly" than had been endorsed.
"If the Employment Court finds that a higher penal rate must be paid, St John would honour this but would need to decrease the base salary to enable it to be affordable within the funding envelope available."
Among the paramedics walking off the job on November 25 is Alex McPherson.
He's been in the industry for a decade, starting as an emergency medical technician before becoming a paramedic. He is based in Whakatāne but spends most of his days around Rotorua and Taupō.
He labelled St John's recent decisions an "insult".
"Money doesn't change a lot in terms of what the job is but some staff are close to minimum wage and they rely on overtime, but the only overtime that comes up are night shifts.
"What I noticed is the impact on your family when you come home the next day ... but who wants to do night shifts, especially when paid on the same basis."
The agreement to introduce shift pay, signed last year, recognised night and weekend work. It was agreed the payment would start on July 1 this year, but in June the organisation said it still could not afford the payments.
The first 24-hour withdrawal of labour will take place on November 25 and St John said it was working on a contingency plan to reduce the "negative impact" to the public.
"But it is likely [the public] will experience delays for an ambulance during the withdrawal of labour strike action."
Lakes District Health Board confirmed it was working to ensure "safe and effective services".
A National Ambulance Sector Office spokesman said government officials would continue to support the facilitation of ongoing discussions between the parties and confirmed there would be a Crown contribution to settlement costs, however, the contribution amount and conditions were yet to be finalised.
The union would not confirm how many members it had in the wider Bay of Plenty region but St John confirmed the First Union members made up 40 per cent of the national workforce.
