AMBULANCE workers in Newport have called for a salary which is "reflective" of the demands of the job and the work they put in during the Covid pandemic.

Around 20 paramedics and other workers from the Welsh Ambulance Service manned a picket line in Bassaleg today, Wednesday, as part of industrial action over pay.

Members of the GMB Union around the nation are taking the second day of strikes and, in Newport, paramedic of 30 years Sharon Thorpe told the Argus staff were struggling to make ends meet.

“I’d like to see a reasonable offer that’s reflective and allows staff to do a job that’s vital to the welfare of people,” she said.

“Nobody’s expecting a mansion, but nobody’s expecting to work full time and use food banks either, and that’s a reality for some of our staff.”

South Wales Argus: Welsh Ambulance Service staff on the picket line in Newport.Welsh Ambulance Service staff on the picket line in Newport. (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Thorpe and her fellow union members – many of whom she said were on rest days and had taken their own time to join the picket line – waved flags and displayed “save our services” banners, attracting beeps of support from many passing drivers.

She said the response had been “really good” and the public’s support was “so appreciated”.

“We know it’s difficult for everybody,” Ms Thorpe added. “It’s difficult for our staff [but] we have to do something.”

The Welsh Government told the Argus it could “recognise why so many ambulance workers voted the way they did, and the anger and disappointment many public sector workers are feeling at the moment”.

Previously, commenting on other public service pay disputes in Wales, ministers have bemoaned the amount of financial support made available to the Welsh Government by Westminster.

For Ms Thorpe, problems with pay and conditions existed before the coronavirus pandemic.

“We all did what was asked of us during Covid,” she said. “We’re not servants, we’re people and we deserve to be appropriately renumerated.

“We’ve been begging for things to change for five or 10 years, and for money to be invested in health.”

South Wales Argus: Welsh Ambulance Service staff on the picket line in Newport.Welsh Ambulance Service staff on the picket line in Newport. (Image: Newsquest)

The health service is taxpayer-funded and therefore taxpayer-owned, she added.

“We’re all paying for the NHS and it’s ours,” Ms Thorpe said. “We need to fight for what’s ours.”

On the back of the current industrial action, the Welsh Government, which runs the NHS in Wales, said it had invited health unions to discuss a one-off cash payment over and above the current pay award, as well as a series of non-pay issues, including agency staffing and staff welfare and wellbeing issues.