"Unite, the UK's leading union, has announced fresh dates in an escalation of the ambulance workers dispute… Members of Unite will stage ten further strikes over the coming weeks… Additional dates could be announced in the comings days," the union said in a statement.
According to its published schedule, Unite's ambulance workers will go on strikes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on January 26, February 6, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, as well as on March 6 and 20.
"Our members faithfully provide life and limb cover on strike days and it’s not the unions who are not providing minimum service levels: It's this government's disastrous handling of the NHS [National Health Service] that has brought it to breaking point. And as crisis piles on crisis, the prime minister is seen to be ‘washing his hands’ of the dispute. What a disgrace. What an abdication of leadership," Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham, said.
The union added that its representatives would make sure that "emergency life and limb will be in place during the strikes" and that "patients needing lifesaving treatment" would be taken to care of.
In late December, over 10,000 ambulance workers from the GMB union in England and Wales staged protests for the first time in 30 years. They were joined by paramedics from Unison and Unite. According to Sky News, a total of 25,000 people went on strike. The UK government formally requested military assistance to keep the healthcare system running during the protest action.
The United Kingdom has been witnessing a series of nationwide strikes due to record inflation and shrinking real wages, with railway workers, lawyers, nurses, airport employees, post office workers, university staff and workers from other industries taking part in the action.