Yes, it’s that time again.

Time to vote via telephonium on the “Proposed variation to Ambulance Victoria Enterprise Agreement 2009″.
This time it’d be nice to actually have some people voting – unlike the three people who did vote last time.
At Azureblues.com we’re not about to tell you which way to vote – suffice to say that voting is important.
Cheers and happy voting.

Such is human nature.

Solidarity. Mutual goals. And then it all crumbles. Or has it?

So the Ambulance Victoria enterprise bargaining melodrama continues. This time in a more surreptitious manner. Ambulance Victoria has struck an agreement of sorts with the Victorian Ambulance Union (AEAV), a last minute face saving exercise, apparently.

Next came the MICA mass resignations and another last minute agreement between the MICA paramedics and Ambulance Victoria. This assured an improved package for MICA paramedics.

En masse there has been a collective “fair enough too”. But this has left the Victorian work-horse paramedic in an unenviable position.

They can now accept an agreement that has been universally seen as  degrading  pay and conditions or they can say no and go to arbitration.

There are three major problems with arbitration. Number one is that it puts in jeopardy the gains made by MICA paramedics. Secondly the arbitrator could strip the hard earned and required benefits that all paramedics enjoy. And thirdly paramedics could be seen, by Joe Public, as being greedy and ungrateful.

These are interesting and confusing times.

Greed, human nature, comradeship, and so on. A true melodrama is playing out.