Staff in National Ambulance Service vote massively in favour of industrial action

Staff in the National Ambulance Service who are members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.

The union is expected to write to the HSE in the coming days to set out the nature and timing of any such industrial action.

The dispute centres on representation rights and the deduction of union subscriptions from members’ pay.

The HSE threatened in July to seek an injunction to prevent a previous plan for strike action over the same issues going ahead.

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At the time the PNA withdrew its plans for industrial action and decided to ballot members in the National Ambulance Service again on industrial action up to and including strike action.

The PNA said on Wednesday that members in the National Ambulance Service in the ballot had voted 98 per cent in favour of industrial action .

“The PNA will be writing to the HSE in the coming days to inform it of the planned industrial action.”

"The PNA balloted the members of its ambulance service personnel branch (the National Ambulance Service Representative Association or NASRA) for industrial action in protest at the continued refusal by the HSE to engage in negotiations with the PNA when representing the interests of their ambulance personnel members, and the HSE's refusal to make payroll deductions of union subscriptions as it does with other unions throughout the health services."

The National Ambulance Service Representative Association is a branch of the PNA.

However the HSE does not recognise either the National Ambulance Service Representative Association or the PNA for negotiation purposes for ambulance staff grades.

The PNA has previously accused the HSE of trying to obstruct the expansion of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association.

The union maintained that last November the HSE introduced a restriction onnew members of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association having their subscriptions deducted at source from their pay.