For any of you that have read or do read the Herald Sun today: FYI yes, a lot paramedics work “4 on, 4 off” but in those 4 on we do AT LEAST 48 hours, IF we finish on time every shift, which we generally don’t, so it is usually like 50+ hours in 4 shifts, including working through the night, and then we finish the morning of our first “day off” and have to sleep half the day anyway. So please don’t see “4 on, 4 off” as a quantity of days, please see the hours we do in that time… We also don’t get paid any extra if we’re rostered on to weekends, public holidays or at night than we do any other day of the week…
There are many other issues with that article (I certainly don’t earn anywhere near $100,000, and the deal works out to be 12% over 5 years not 3 years because negotiations have been going on for 2 years already).
I feel personally offended by the way Victorian paramedics are being portrayed, and it’s making me reconsider if I really do want to work as a paramedic in this state…
Source: Facebook