Unite Calling Notice

Unite leader Sharon Graham will join the NHS Ambulance strike picket line in Coventry

When:  0800 hrs Wednesday 21 December 2022

Where: Coventry Ambulance Headquarters, Ibstock Road, Coventry, CV6 6JR

Sharon Graham will also be available for interview on the Coventry picket line.

Addressing the ambulance workers, the union leader will say: “This government is guilty of criminal negligence in its hollowing out of the NHS long before now. The strikers are actually trying to save the service.” 

Figures uncovered by a recent freedom of information request from BBC Newsnight showed the number of people in the West Midlands who died after an ambulance delay has risen significantly. Yearly numbers rose from one in 2020 to 37 up until September 2022.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Government has had months to intervene and end this dispute. They chose not to. It’s Steven Barclay who is holding the country to ransom, not the unions. He will have to carry the can if patients suffer.

“The shocking statistics from West Midlands Ambulance Trust tell the real story. Where were the government’s ‘well-rehearsed contingency plans’ when people were dying in the West Midlands because the crisis in the ambulance service meant an ambulance couldn’t get to them on time? 

“This government is guilty of criminal negligence in its hollowing out of the NHS long before now. The strikers are actually trying to save the service”.

More than 1,600 workers at the West Midlands, North West and North East ambulance service trusts will strike on Wednesday 21 December 2022. Unite’s ambulance workers voted by up to 92 per cent for strike action.

ENDSFor more information or to arrange an interview please contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315 or email: Ci[email protected]

On Wednesday 21 December contact Ryan Fletcher who will be in Coventry on 07849 090215 or email: [email protected]

Twitter: @unitetheunion Facebook: unitetheunion1 Web: unitetheunion.org 

Unite is the leading union in the UK and Ireland, dedicated to defending an improving members' jobs, pay and conditions. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.