Nearly 2,000 Irish Ambulance Workers on 24-Hour Strike

Nearly 2,000 ambulance workers across Ireland, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, advanced paramedics, specialists and supervisors from SIPTU and Unite unions, launched a 24-hour strike at 8 a.m. Tuesday, setting up pickets at depots nationwide from Dublin to Dundalk and Tralee. The action, which continued overnight and was set to end at 8 a.m. Wednesday, followed a work-to-rule on Monday and has led to longer response times for non-life-threatening calls, according to the Health Service Executive.

The dispute centers on demands for updated pay scales to match expanded qualifications and clinical responsibilities, such as an 89 percent increase in emergency medical technicians' authority to administer medications since 2011 and an 83 percent rise for paramedics. Unions point to a 2020 independent Roles and Responsibilities Review that recommended salary enhancements without preconditions, which the HSE has not fully implemented. SIPTU Ambulance Sector Organiser John McCamley said members seek pay that recognizes their "training and professional level," adding that for 15 years, agreements on modernization have not been followed by promised wage increases.