Wow! What a week we have had in London. UNISON disputes the imposition of a Rest Break Policy that hadn’t been jointly agreed within the LAS – and the Capital explodes in riots, looting and lawlessness!
Now I am not saying there are any links between those two events but, if any of you have read about, and understands, the Chaos Theory (a butterfly flaps it’s wings in Argentina etc etc….) you will never completely dismiss anything concerning cause and effect!
I read one newspaper report about an expensive restaurant in Notting Hill being attacked (which is bad). The staff locked the diners in the wine cellar for their own safety (which is good)! The report went on to state that ‘after staff chased off the looters, guests were given glasses of alcohol including champagne and whisky to calm their nerves’!
The looters came back a second time (which is bad). Diners were once again locked in the wine cellar (which is good). The report went on ‘ Once the looters had left for a second time, the guests were let out of the wine cellar and given petits fours’!
Petits fours! If that report isn’t an unwitting ironic commentary on a divided society, I do not know what is! London burns, shops are being looted, family businesses are wrecked and guests at an expensive restaurant in Notting Hill are given champagne and petits fours to calm their nerves!
Marie Antoinette, where are you? Your time has returned!
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What has been happening across the country in the last week cannot help but put most other things into perspective. It really shows how quick things can change, when a mix of circumstances and forces meet head on.
Once again our crews and staff did a great job, although, reading the newspapers and watching the news on television, you wouldn’t think that the London Ambulance Service were involved. That is a credit to us I suppose, as it proves how well crews and staff take these sort of things in their stride. It is just another day in London.
We have always said that being an Ambulance Worker in London is different than in any other place. There is a ‘London Dimension’. We are not saying we are special, or better, or do not have anything to learn from others, but: London is different!
It is sometimes only when people come to work in London, or leave the LAS to work elsewhere, that they realize this difference.
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As reported on our website the Rest Break Policy discussions are still on-going within the Joint Secretary Group. Rest Breaks are a good example of the London Dimension and difference.
One size does not fit all. What happens in other Services has no bearings on what happens in London. What other people agree to in other Services does not mean staff in London will agree the same. What may be good for Peter, may not be good for Paul.
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I have sent a message of solidarity to Ambulance Workers in Norway on behalf of LAS UNISON (see the website). The ambulance workers who dealt with the murderous events on 22nd July 2011 are mainly based in Oslo and the surrounding area.
Their Trade Union is called Fagforbundet.
London ambulance staff, more than anyone else, know and understand how our counterparts in Norway are feeling.
We hope to build stronger links between UNISON Ambulance Workers in London and Fagforbundet Ambulance Workers in Oslo in the near future.
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 Information of all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.
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If you are reading this, work for the London Ambulance Service or are eligible to join, and are not yet a member of UNISON Join Today!
 I Am Frontline You Are Frontline We Are All FrontlineÂ
We are stronger together.
Eric Roberts
Branch Secretary
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