Yesterday we went to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to have the ambulance award amendments and your replacement agreement registered.

It was a protracted bargaining process that saw you fighting the government tooth and nail for a better deal, but now your agreement has been registered and the fruits of your labour will come into force next week.

All the wage increases will be backdated, and we’ll keep in touch on when you can expect to see your backpay show up in your pay.

There is still some significant work that needs to happen too, especially on a proper procedure to deal with ramping once and for all.

There’s also plenty of other improvements for ambulance workers with more training days, more CPD funding and a commitment to deal with some longstanding issues like rosters.

Hats off to your colleagues that make up the HACSU ambulance sub-branch executive – they’ve worked tirelessly and stared down senior bureaucrats during this process. Without them, we simply would not have achieved what we did.

In other news, we’ve been attending meetings with management regularly and there’s a lot going on and still a lot that needs to be improved. We understand that some fixed term workers will soon be offered permanent jobs and we’ll continue to advocate for more paramedics and a pathway to permanent jobs for interns who gain their ATP.

We’ll be out doing more and visiting you where we can, so if you need to discuss anything or would otherwise like a visit, please get in touch.

For more information, please contact HACSUassist by phone on 1300 880 032 or via email at assist@hacsu.org.au