Emergency Motion 3
Rest Breaks in the Scottish Ambulance Service
“That this Congress extends its solidarity to workers in the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as they began last week voting in a consultative ballot on industrial action over the denial of rest breaks.
“Congress notes that although workers are content to end their rest break in the event of a threat to life situation, that the forgoing of rest breaks has become standard practice in the SAS leading to exhaustion, stress and sickness absence; and notes that staff are frequently forced to work overtime due to queues at hospitals compounding the impact of overwork and lack of rest time on and off the clock.
“Congress thanks workers in the SAS and other frontline healthcare for the vital service and world class care they gave during the pandemic and continue to give to communities and our most vulnerable across Scotland; and believes that for this world class care to continue, staff must have the pay, terms and conditions to match, including reasonable rest breaks.
“Congress recognises that the poor industrial relations created by SAS management towards trade unions acts contrary to the Agenda for Change commitments on partnership working and must be resolved through the direct intervention of the Scottish Government.
“Congress calls on the Scottish Government to:
- Enforce SAS workers’ right to rest breaks across the service; and
- Invest in increasing staffing numbers to reduce workload and pressure on existing ambulance crews.”
Mover: GMB Scotland
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