We received the government’s “final” offer for your replacement Ambulance agreement last night.

Your colleagues on the Ambulance Sub-branch Executive have worked tirelessly over the Christmas break trying to get the government to make an acceptable offer, but what the government have put forward still falls short on an issue that we know affects all of you:

Meal breaks.

The Executive met this afternoon and cannot endorse the offer because of the meal break provision.

Our discussions with the government were positive in a lot of areas – but without taking action to protect you from dispatch or continuous work, your right to be fed and have a break will be usurped by the constant pressure for ambulance resources. We can’t accept that.

We’ll need to talk to you about what we can do to make the government see how important the issue is to you but in the meantime, you can continue to get the message out to the community and keep our campaign in the public eye.

Action is the best way to do that.

Here are some suggested slogans for your trucks and windows:

• Why can’t I get a break?

• Fix ramping now!

• The government won’t give us a meal break

• Ambulance services: falling off a Rockliff

• Unrested for too long, Jeremy

• New year, same old problems

• Any other resource crisis or fix health themed drawings

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The pink t-shirts are looking fantastic, and we’ve ordered more so no one will miss out. If you’ve got a photo in your t-shirt or of your vehicle to share, email it to photos@hacsu.org.au  

We’ll set up membership meetings in all regions starting next week to talk more about the offer and the next steps, so please keep an eye out for the details coming soon and make every effort to get along.

Your AESB Executive will continue to consider escalating industrial action if the government keeps ignoring the issue.

For further information, please contact us on 1300 880 032 or via email at assist@hacsu.org.au