SWAN Hill paramedics are joining a Victoria-wide protest against Ambulance Victoria by disrupting administrative processes.
In a bid to express their frustration with what has become a nearly two-year statewide pay dispute, paramedics are refusing to use the electronic systems normally used to process patient information.
MICA paramedic and union representative Peter Kiel said it was the only way they could send a message without stopping work altogether, which was not an option.
“We are limited in what we can do,” Mr Kiel said.
“Because of the enterprise bargaining we’ve brought in these bans [on electronic patient records] to pressure management to come to some sort of resolution.”
Last month the Minister for Health David Davis accused the ambulance union of “putting politics and pay packets before patients” in their refusal to sign repeated offers from the department.
“There is every indication that Victoria’s paramedics are happy with the pay deal that is on the table in front of them, and want their union to drop the politics and settle this dispute,” Mr Davis said.
“The union is prepared to deliberately mislead the community about the capacity of the ambulance service to respond to life-threatening situations, and in so doing could discourage people from calling an ambulance when they most need one.”
But Mr Kiel said while he could not speak on behalf of all members, 98 per cent of them had signed a petition stating they supported continuation of the industrial action.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (October 6).
