Yorkshire Ambulance Service workers to vote on strike move in pay row

Ambulance workers in Yorkshire are to vote on whether to take strike action in a dispute over pay.

The GMB union said a consultative ballot of almost 1,500 members at Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) showed 90% in favour of a walkout.

The union said it was the "largest mandate ever seen" and YAS staff were angry at the government's 4% pay rise.

YAS said it was monitoring the situation so it could provide "safe and responsive care for patients".

Dates for a formal strike ballot would be announced "in the coming days", the union said.

Deanne Ferguson, GMB organiser, said staff such as paramedics had "had enough."

She added: "Ambulance staff should not be worrying about how they'll heat their homes this winter or feed their families, whilst carrying out a crucial service across our communities.

"The service is crumbling, and it is having an impact on everyone - it is only surviving because of the amazing workers holding it together, through good will."

A YAS spokesperson said: "We recognise that staff have the right to voice their concerns in this way, and we are monitoring the situation closely to ensure we continue to provide safe and responsive care for our patients."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said industrial action was a "matter for unions and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients".

The spokesperson added the government valued the "hard work of NHS staff" and had given more than "one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year".

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