A strike by ambulance staff in Co Wicklow has resulted in the Defence Forces being called in to provide emergency ambulance cover. Two Defence Forces ambulances were deployed yesterday at Arklow and Wicklow ambulance centres after staff refused to work a roster designed to facilitate the introduction of a 24-hour service based in Arklow. The Eastern Health Board said the Army would provide 24-hour cover for the area during the dispute.
The 19 workers are looking for "up-front" compensation in return for having to work extra night and weekend shifts. Four of the staff will also have to move jobs from Wicklow to Arklow.
Mr John O'Brien, of SIPTU, said the workers transferred to Arklow would have to make a round trip of 34 miles per day at their own expense to go to work.
He said a Labour Court recommendation that the "social disruption" caused by the changes and their impact on staff earnings be examined after six months was "unrealistic".
"If loss and disruption take place from day one, compensation should be there from day one. These are ordinary, working-class people who live from week to week. They can't wait six months. In the age of the Celtic Tiger, it's not unreasonable to assume that the Minister for Health could allocate the necessary financial resources to solve the problem."
He said his members "were ready to commence negotiations straight away".
An Eastern Health Board statement said ambulance staff in Wicklow would not suffer any loss of earnings under the new roster. Nor was there any change in the basic working week or the length of the working day.
"In fact, we believe that they will gain additional earnings through premium payments for Sundays and nights," a spokesperson said.
The board is "prepared to consider staff claims but only in the context of the mechanism recommended by the Labour Court".
The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, called on the staff in the industrial action "to resolve the dispute through the available industrial relations machinery and resume normal working".
"The issues in this dispute have already been the subject of discussions and a fair and equitable means of resolving the matters at issue has been recommended by the Labour Court."
