WHILE Swan Hill’s paramedics love their jobs, they say lower pay than their interstate counterparts and a perceived lack of government recognition have caused some to re-consider their future with Ambulance Victoria.
A job satisfaction survey of 600 paramedics released last week by the Ambulance Employees Union has indicated more than half of Victoria’s paramedics planned to quit within five years.
Almost a third of those who wanted to quit said they were hoping to work as a paramedic elsewhere in Australia for higher pay.
Ambulance Victoria Northern Mallee group manager Steve Fumberger, who has worked with Ambulance Victoria for 31 years, said the Swan Hill district had a high retention rate, with many of its ambulance officers staying in the job for 20 years or more.
But some local paramedics admitted it had crossed their mind to move elsewhere for higher paid work.
“A few guys have got into the mining industry, which offers much better pay,” local paramedic John Gillingham said.
Ambulance Victoria employees are currently paid under the public-sector wage rise policy of 2.5 per cent a year with any further rises to be traded for ‘productivity gains’.
Mr Gillingham said discontent in Victoria had been visibly building up in the past year, and he expected large-scale industrial action to take place in coming months in a bid to obtain a pay rise of 30 per cent over three years.
Some members of the Swan Hill unit have already received union-provided shirts and hats in preparation for their campaign for better pay and conditions, which kicked off last Friday.
“It’s not just about pay, but also recognition,” added another Swan Hill paramedic.
In terms of performance, the Northern Mallee region has some of the best figures in the state for cardiac arrest survival and general response times in regional Victoria.
For more on this story, see Friday’s edition of The Guardian
(08/03/13).
