“The settlement offer – which will be shared with employees and members tomorrow – follows careful consideration of 800-plus submitted claims, where we heard directly from you about your experiences, and focused on key priority areas you identified,” the statement said.
“We acknowledge that negotiations have taken longer than anyone had hoped, and recognise the impact this had on everyone at AV, along with our partners and community.”
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Hill said the deal rewarded long-serving paramedics, made the state’s MICA paramedics the highest-paid in Australia, rewarded community officers and ensured paramedics finished on-time.
“Beyond wages and allowances, there are approximately 80 new or improved working conditions that help ambos have better work-life balance so that we retain them in the job for longer. That is ultimately what we set out to achieve in this round of bargaining,” Hill said.
“There is a lot more work to do including on ramping, response times, workload and morale. This outcome will allow us to focus our full attention on working through those matters with AV [Ambulance Victoria] and government.”
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A state government spokesperson said the deal “recognises the challenges our paramedics are facing”.
“Our paramedics want a career that is sustainable and a better work-life balance, and this agreement delivers just that,” they said.
“This agreement will create a new end-of-shift clause ensuring paramedics finish on time – getting them home to their loved ones sooner and safer.”