UNIONS representing 000 operators are set for a 24-hour strike, sparking a possible emergency response crisis.
The strike could be held within a month, causing chaos for Victorians needing urgent help from firefighters, the police and paramedics, the Herald Sun reports.
Three unions representing Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority workers last night gained authorisation from Fair Work Australia to put the strike to a vote of members.
If the stop-work action occurs, hundreds of unskilled staff may have to be found to handle the phones for emergency calls.
The threat comes as seven months of negotiations between the unions and the State Government over a new pay deal have stalled.
The operators, who take more than 6000 calls from distressed Victorians every day, have demanded an 18 per cent pay rise over three years, but the Government is sticking to its 2.5 per cent pay rise offer each year, plus productivity improvements.
Ambulance Employees Association of Victoria secretary Steve McGhie said Premier Ted Baillieu had only himself to blame.
The workers' agreement expired on June 30 last year.
"They have left employees with no other choice but to take industrial action - that's what you have to resort to get some common sense out of the Government," Mr McGhie said.
Government spokesman Paul Price hit back, saying: "This is industrial thuggery and blackmail at its absolute worst. Any such action could directly threaten the lives of Victorians at the height of the fire season."
The bans would affect workers employed at call centres in Burwood, Ballarat and the Victoria Police Centre in Flinders St.
They earn $40,000 to $60,000 a year plus penalty rates for late-night shifts.
The United Firefighters Union and the Communications Workers Union have also signed up to the industrial action.
A copy of the protected action ballot lists a 24-hour strike as the third of its 32 industrial actions that workers will vote on.
Stop-work meetings for up to an hour and bans on overtime, higher duties, writing shift reports and taking calls on estimated arrival times are also among the options the unions would have available if the vote is successful.
The Australian Electoral Commission will poll workers to see if they agree to the bans. Voting will close in two weeks. The first strike action could begin once results are verified and would be legally protected.
Peter Marshall, secretary of the United Firefighters Union, said the State Government was a disgrace, but public safety would not be compromised.
Read more on the Herald Sun.
