Raw pay deal sparks protest march

The Standard
BY Andrew Thomson

SOUTH-WEST ambulance officers will march in Warrnambool early next week in the continued push for better pay and conditions.

Seven officers went to a rally in Melbourne yesterday as part of the current enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations.

Ambulance Employees Union Warrnambool representative Jock O'Connor said that at 11am next Tuesday officers would march from the ambulance station in Koroit Street to Member for South West Coast Dr Denis Napthine's office in Liebig Street.

Mr O'Connor said a meeting would be held with Dr Napthine who was then expected to pass on the concerns of south-west rural ambulance officers to the State Government.

"We believe rural ambulance officers are carrying the service by performing on average 11 weeks' overtime every year," he said.

"We have to do this because of our poor pay rate and the need to supplement our incomes and because we are under-resourced.

"This government was elected on promises of being family-friendly but it's not good for any family for someone to be working 11 weeks' overtime a year."

Mr O'Connor said the current pay rate did not recognise the study required to be an ambulance officer or the life-and-death decisions ambulance officers had to make.

"We are lagging behind nurses in terms of wages but make a lot more decisions about patients," he said.

"Currently through our enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, the State Government is offering to effectively cut our wages by thousands of dollars annually.

"Because we are an essential service we can't take strike action so we are very keen to make the public aware of our situation."

Mr O'Connor said it was well overdue that the State Government recognised the role of ambulance officers.

"Basically a life-support paramedic has to do six years' study to receive $25 an hour.

"It's similar to what checkout chicks are paid," he said.

"Ambulances officers are clearly disgusted by the way we are being treated by this State Government and we want people to be aware of our plight," the ambulance officer of 20 years said.

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