Ambos on strike: No bills for patients until pay dispute is solved

Ambulance officers launched strike action on Friday in response to a pay dispute with the State Government that has lasted more than two years.

Ambulance officers have launched industrial action by refusing to charge patients for rides until the union receives a “reasonable” enterprise bargaining offer from the state government.

The Ambulance Employees Association announced the billing strike on Friday afternoon after the action received 98 per cent support in a recent member survey.

Members will not fill out the billing section on the forms associated with a patient’s transport, meaning the government will receive no revenue.

Ramping at Women's and Children's Hospital. Picture Ambulance Employees Association

It is an escalation on the strike action taken in March last year, which saw patients not receive a bill, only if their wait time exceeded their priority status.

It follows years of negotiation between the union and the State Government regarding a new enterprise agreement.

AEA secretary Leah Watkins said there hasn’t been one offer of a new agreement or salary increase in that time.

“Our ambos have waited long enough, so we will keep this action in place as long as it takes to get a reasonable offer from the government,” she said.

“The most concerning part of the Liberal Government’s agenda is that they have continued to maintain that they will not provide any salary increases for ambos for the work they performed while working on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years.”

Treasurer Rob Lucas said they have sought to resolve the issue by seeking an arbitrated resolution from the state’s employment tribunal.

“Rather than focusing on enterprise bargaining, the AEA’s executive approved in September 2021, a political advertising campaign all the way up until the State Election, so we have been left with no choice other than to lodge this application,” he said.

South Australian Treasurer Rob Lucas. Picture: Getty Images

“This is now a matter for the South Australian Employment Tribunal to consider as the independent umpire.”

Mr Lucas said the government had made a significant investment into the SA Ambulance Service.

“The Marshall Government has today (Friday) announced 51 FTE paramedics to expand the SA Ambulance Service’s capacity to respond to increasing demand, further boosting the state’s ambulance officers to the highest number ever employed in South Australia,” he said.

“It comes in addition to the 74 FTE ambulance officers announced in the current State Budget, as well as a doubling of the paramedic intake last year and in 2022.”