AMBULANCE workers across Northern Ireland are gearing up for strike action this Thursday in a row over pay.

Union chiefs met their bosses yesterday to discuss contingency plans for the 12 hour strike.

Workers across the province will down first aid kits in a co-ordinated walk out from 12 noon until one minute before midnight.

The action is in response to a decision not to implement a 1% increase in NHS staff salaries across the board.

The government pay review body recommended a minimum increase of 1%.

That has been implemented in Scotland and Wales, but not in England and Northern Ireland.

GMB union official Michael Mulholland said talks with management locally were about contingency plans for Thursday.

“Our members have agreed that they will respond, should there be a major incident or a large number of emergency calls,” he told BBC NI’s Good Morning Ulster.

“We want a commitment from the health minister, Jim Wells, that he will adhere to recommendations from the pay review body and pay all the NHS staff the 1% increase, not just those who do not enjoy an incremental increase in salary linked to their length of service.”

Staff are angry that MPs and MLAs got a 11 per cent pay rise from the same pay review body