For the first time, Ambulance Victoria fleet maintenance officers are on strike.
Fleet maintenance officers are mechanics that help keep ambulances on the road.
Their last enterprise agreement expired in January this year and no agreement has been reached since, with negotiations seemingly untenable at this point.
The workforce believes the state health agency had failed to recognise their crucial role in keeping ambulances on the road in regional Victoria, and had refused demands for better pay in the cost-of-living crisis.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said the government values the dedication and hard work that our ambulance service does every day.
“They play a critical role in keeping Victorians healthy and safe, and we thank them for their service to the state,” the spokesperson said.
“We expect Ambulance Victoria and the Victorian Ambulance Union to continue to negotiate in good faith and reach a resolution as soon as possible.
“Importantly, the safety of Victorians requiring emergency care will not be affected during this time.”
On Monday, April 8, fleet maintenance workers across the state initiated industrial action, protesting out the front of ambulance stations in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Hamilton, Horsham, Morwell, Wangaratta and Shepparton.
There are only 25 fleet maintenance workers across regional Victoria and only a few in Shepparton that maintain the ambulances across the region.
They protested out the front of the Shepparton Ambulance Victoria headquarters on Wyndham St, Shepparton, on Monday morning.
Shepparton fleet maintenance officer Lyle Sinclair said negotiations had been going on for a long time in the lead up to the enterprise agreement expiring, and that there had been “at least 80” meetings between the workers and Ambulance Victoria.
“We have ensured any action that is taking place doesn’t pose any threat to public safety or the ability for our paramedic members to respond to the community,” he said.
“The key priority here is to demonstrate to AV just how much they have taken for granted the work our members in fleet do over and above to keep ambulance moving.
“AV doesn’t seem to get how important fleet workers are in providing much-needed ambulance services in rural Victoria.
“Fleet are the forgotten ones at AV but without us, everything stops.”
Mr Sinclair said it was sad it had reached this point, but that the industrial action was necessary to make the wider community aware of the situation and hopefully force a change.