CATS ambulance staff goes on strike

Due to an ongoing tussle between the Centralised Accident & Trauma Services (CATS) ambulance staff and the management, the staff went on strike on Friday.

Earlier this month, the CATS ambulance staff union had announced to go on an indefinite strike if their demands were not met, the strike had been postponed after the staff was reassured of some changes but no concrete measures were taken.

On Friday, majority of the staff went on strike and of the 265 ambulances, 240 were non-operational.

"The staff has complaints with BVG, the private company, that is handling the contract. Their demands are not being met and they have threatened to go on strike in the past. For now, we are looking at preventive measures and making alternate arrangements for the work to run smoothly," said Laxman Singh Rana, Operations Head, CATS. The CATS helpline caters to around 8,000 to 9,000 patients on a daily basis in two different shifts.

The CATS staff union has highlighted several problems, in the last one year, since the private company took over. The staff faces issues such as no sirens in ambulances, no air conditioning and most importantly no safety kits.

None of the ambulances have swine flu kits and some do not even have masks/gloves for the paramedical staff. On Friday, the strike left thousands of patients helpless across the city.