This article has been written by ‘The Ambulance Victoria terminated employees’.
I will put on record though that I know the lawyer who is running this case, and I RESPECT HIM A LOT. He has won many cases around this and he won’t waste their money or time. That’s the main reason I feel comfortable asking for people’s support. Read more about their case here https://aw4a.com.au/
In late 2021 Victorian paramedics and other allied health professionals were instructed by management to have the COVID 19 vaccination or termination of employment will be considered. Mutiple notices and emails from several managers were regularly sent to all employees to notify them of this direction which inherently reminded them, painfully, of the consequential outcome ‘termination of employment’ if they failed to comply with the instruction. Staff simply felt coerced by the unreasonable management direction.
The employees have had previous vaccines but were hesitant being administered the new COVID vaccines for a variety of reasons.
Employees amongst this group were cancer patients, staff on Workcover, had medical conditions and were also determining if the covid 19 medical intervention was warranted for their personal circumstances, health and injuries.
As the deadline encroached, staff were still apprehensive but seriously considering getting the vaccine as they didn’t want to lose their jobs. Some wanted to wait only a few months more before a more palatable vaccine became available. Regardless, Ambulance Victoria (AV) terminated their employment. Some staff were going to get the vaccine but were not allowed due to illness, but the deadline was up and had their employment terminated anyway. Despite multiple requests to be stood down and on leave without pay until a better resolution could be sought.
A group grievance was to be heard at the Fair Work Commision but a few of the group had their employment terminated prior to the notice of listing (scheduled appointment for matter to be heard) and after AV was notified of the listing, the vast majority of terminations occurred and hence the grievance application was deemed void.
A staff member living interstate and working from home was told their employment would be terminated as staff may be called into an AV facility for a meeting and hence required to be vaccinated. This employee had never been requested to attend an AV facility previously; yet was still coerced to have a vaccine.
Many have gone through the Fair Work process of unfair dismissal with nonsensical outcomes. There needed to be a more formalised legal process to seek remedy regarding the termination of our employment. We have reformed members of the group as we feel we now have strong legal support to test our cases properly; which has had success helping others in similar situations.
Due to the circumstances of our terminated employment and difficulties in the current climate supporting our families, there has been a significant impact on our group relating to stress, dismay, and financial difficulty. Many have had to sell their homes and downsize, have great difficulty in gaining employment, being ostracised from friends and their communities, among other hardships.
Our group is seeking remedy in the legal arena to rectify our current situation so that members of the group can move forward, gain employment we were trained for, do the job they love and get back to helping our communities and the health system which is already strained to breaking point. To this end we are appealing to the public for financial assistance in seeking our remedy through the legal system. This support will help not only our group but continue to strengthen the legal precedent to enable other public service groups to get back to serving the community; as well as setting precedent for other industry groups (helping even more families).
We thank you in advance for any financial support or taking the time to share our crowd funding page and cause.
Sincerely,
The Ambulance Victoria terminated employees.
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