A long-running pay dispute between paramedics and the New South Wales (NSW) government is threatening to seriously disrupt services over New Year’s Eve, the busiest night of the year for emergency crews.
The dispute, involving multiple unions, has dragged on for more than eight months, with paramedics seeking between a 25 and 45 percent pay increase which the government says it can’t afford.
On Dec. 1, a planned action by the Health Services Union (HSU) for around 1900 of its members not to renew their registration came into effect.
Taking into account a four-week grace period, the registrations would lapse at midnight on New Year’s Eve, meaning workers would be able to do little more than drive ambulances and give basic first aid from Jan. 1, the HSU says.
Premier Chris Minns said as a result those paramedics could not be rostered on to work, holding massive implications for the triple-zero network.
“If someone was picked up who had a coronary episode or a heart attack, and was in the back of the ambulance, the paramedic wouldn’t be able to perform life-saving interventions to save that life because they wouldn’t be registered,” Mr. Minns said.
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