It is absolutely the Government's fault if patients die during nationwide strikes, says UK ambulance union boss

The general secretary of Unison, one of the largest trade unions in the UK, said that ambulance workers and unions should not be the ones to be blamed if patients die during the nationwide protests on Wednesday. Christina McAnea, the union boss, said that the government would be responsible for the deaths and accused them of being “totally irresponsible.” Talking to TalkTV on Tuesday, McAnea said, “The only time they called me in for a meeting was today, the day before the strike.” “It’s completely irresponsible of them to refuse to open any kind of discussions or negotiations with us,” she added. As many as 25,000 staff have joined the nationwide strike in a dispute over pay and 10 of 11 trusts in England and Wales are expected to get affected due by the strike. The strike Three trade unions – Unison, GMB and Unite unions – have joined the strike over the UK Government’s four per cent pay award which comes at a time when inflation is already soaring. The nationwide strike saw the participation of paramedics and emergency care assistants. McAnea said earlier that an offer of a one-off pay bonus could potentially avert the strikes. She said, “We’d listen to that, we’d listen to any offer from the Government. We are happy to discuss any options with them. I’m not putting a figure on it, we are not putting a limit on it and saying it has to be this. We are open to negotiations.” The 21 December strike, however, will not include 999 call handlers. They will participate in the next strike which is due on 28 December. “We are bringing out the road crews, so that’s the people who are out in the ambulances - the paramedics, the technicians, the specialist paramedics who go out to deal with specific issues - they are the ones on strike.” “What we haven’t done is bring out control room staff, so the people who deal with 999 calls will still be working,” the union boss confirmed. With inputs from agencies. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .