AMBULANCE staff striking in Pwllheli and Bala today have been joined by local politicians.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd’s MP, Liz Saville Roberts, joined Welsh Ambulance Service staff on the picket line in Pwllheli, whilst and MS Mabon ap Gwynfor joined workers in Bala today as they fight for better pay and improved working conditions.

Today’s strike marks the first of two days of industrial action by Welsh Ambulance Service staff, which will see around a thousand paramedics, medical technicians and call handling staff taking action right across Wales.

Ms Saville Roberts and Mr ap Gwynfor have called on the Welsh government Health Minister to engage in meaningful pay negotiations, commensurate with the ever-increasing pressures on frontline staff.

They said: “Today, we joined local ambulance workers on the picket line in Pwllheli and Bala, as paramedics, medical technicians and call handling staff continue their fight for fair pay and safe working conditions.

“We heard directly from frontline staff about the immense pressures they face. We fully support hard-working ambulance staff across our Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency as they take a principled stand against real terms pay cut and the unrelenting crisis in their working conditions.

“It should also be appreciated that despite the strike action, ambulance staff will continue to respond to calls deemed ‘life and limb’ incidents.

“We know the Tories in Westminster have starved Wales’ budgets for 13 years, but the Labour Welsh government must also take their share of responsibility for the crisis in our NHS.

“From the complete lack of investment in social care, the failure to recruit and retain more doctors and nurses, to the lack of meaningful engagement to resolve worker disputes - the Welsh Labour government must be held to account.

“Time and again, Plaid Cymru has urged Welsh Government to look at all the powers they have - taxation, reserves, and reallocation to prioritise fairer pay for health and care workers. Yet they’ve chosen to turn a blind eye to the chronic issues plaguing the NHS.

“The decline of the NHS in Wales, where one in five people are on a hospital waiting list, has happened on Welsh Labour’s watch. Westminster may hold the purse strings, but the Welsh Government is not powerless to act.”