New South Wales needs more paramedics, and the Post Employment Tertiary Pathway has provided amazing opportunities for staff previously working in Control to meet that need. With the ink barely dry on their contracts as trainee paramedics, NSWA gave orders to nine control-trained ADHSU members on Friday that they would be pulled back into working full time at Control until March. They were to be pulled out of their class – to fill gaps in control centres that NSWA should have seen coming years ago.

Not only was this a breach of their new contracts but would have been a massive disruption to their vital paramedic training. Those nine members took the step of standing in solidarity with each other and turned up to their induction class rather than control as directed. As a result, NSWA has reluctantly agreed to allow these nine ADHSU members to finish their training. Well done trainees – you’ve shown that standing together gets results.

Other control-trained paramedic trainees and ‘Level 2s’ have also been receiving directions to return to Control, of course, without entitlement to the standby paramedic allowance.

Today all affected ADHSU members met and voted to follow their colleagues in banning this unreasonable directive. They will present, ready for work at their stations/induction courses, and will not be intimidated by NSWA into hiding the staffing crisis they created at Control. If you are an ADHSU member and have been recalled to Control from your training (or posting), get in contact and join the fight.