Govt ambulance drivers to go on strike in Karnataka over salary hike demand

Drivers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) of Karnataka’s 108 Arogya Kavacha ambulance service have threatened to stop work from Wednesday midnight, over their unmet demand of annual salary increment, Deccan Herald reported.

 

The strike call came after talks with the state’s Health Department officials failed, with staff saying promises made in the last round of discussions, when they had also declared a strike, were not kept.

 

“During the last protest, the officials had agreed to give us an increment. Ideally, the revised salary was to be credited by now. But, we now understand that the government has decided against it,” the report quoted Paramshiva, a member of the association, as saying.

 

Why are the drivers, EMTs protesting?

 

The staff are demanding an annual salary increment and better pay. If the strike goes ahead, it would hit the state’s main free emergency ambulance network, with about 3,200 ambulance drivers and EMTs unavailable from Wednesday night, the associations claim.

 

The unrest has been building for weeks. In early September, two employee bodies, the Suvarna Karnataka Arogya Kavacha-108 Employees’ Association and the Karnataka State Arogya Kavacha Ambulance Employees’ Association, gave the Health Minister and the department’s Principal Secretary 15 days to resolve their grievances, warning of mass resignations from September 20. 

 

The staff, appointed by a company called GVK EMRI, were promised yearly salary revisions at recruitment but got no increase between 2017 and 2022. The unions also sought better working conditions and compensation for employees who die in accidents.

 

The health department declined to accept the proposal of ₹174 crore, including all increments after the last protest was called, according to the association.

 

Minister urges alternatives to 108 ambulances

 

Meanwhile, Khader has urged the public to seek alternatives to the 108 ambulance service for the next two months as the government plans an overhaul of the system, according to a report by The New Indian Express. The appeal comes ahead of a statewide work stoppage threatened by ambulance staff from the 10 pm shift on October 14.

 

The staff have threatened to go on strike across the state from tonight and organise an indefinite protest at Freedom Park from October 15 if their demands remain unfulfilled.

 

However, the health minister claimed the government will not succumb to pressure. Khader described the agitation by ambulance drivers as ‘blackmail’. He warned of action against GVK EMRI if “anything goes wrong or the patients are affected.”