5,000 signatures reached
To: The Hon. Jacinta Allan MP
Ambos DESERVE to have A LIFE TOO
Victorian paramedics and ambulance workers do over 800 hours of forced involuntary overtime every day. That means that they are missing out on time with their own family and can't commit to something as simple as picking up a child after school.
This is leading to paramedics and ambulance workers leaving the job after just five years, because it's impossible to balance the pressure of the job with having a family.
Victorian paramedics and ambulance workers who do such an amazing job for us need your support.
Please sign our petition and tell the Premier of Victoria that Ambos DESERVE to have A LIFE TOO.
Why is this important?
Paramedics are currently bargaining with Ambulance Victoria and the Jacinta Allan Government for a new enterprise agreement. We are asking for improvements to wages, conditions, valuing MICA, better rural resourcing, and incentivising longevity in the job.
But for many members, the most important claim is simply the ability to get home after the shift ends.
Our members are forced to work hours of involuntary overtime every day, either because they are ramped at a hospital, or dispatched to a case minutes before the end of shift and sometimes after their rostered finish time. That may seem reasonable in an emergency and any ambo you ask will tell you they expect to work overtime when a patient urgently needs their skills. But our call taking system categorises people who call 000 because they couldn’t afford a GP as an EMERGENCY.
Ambulance Victoria have trumpeted that an ambo workplace is an inclusive, family friendly workplace. But our members work over 800 hours of forced overtime every single day. This means that picking up kids, getting to a sporting game or parent teacher interview is not a commitment any ambo can make.
Members are ignored when simply requesting an on-time finish. One member was dispatched to a non-urgent patient in a health facility three minutes before the end of shift. The paramedic pleaded with Ambulance Victoria management that she had to pick up a child from daycare but was refused. Another colleague had to go to the childcare centre to take care of the baby until the paramedic finished over an hour late.
Recently Swinburne and RMIT surveyed Victorian Ambulance Union members and the number of ambos looking at leaving the job in the next year has climbed to one in five. That’s already in a workforce where over half the paramedics have been in the job for less than five years. This is not sustainable for the workforce, but sadly, that’s what happens when ambos are asked to choose between their job and their family.
Ambos are dedicated to saving lives. Please support us by signing this petition and help ambos have a life too.