As was said at start, if you are a tech, you move from current pay point 20 to 18 on the scale, top of scale 4 no way to gain pay for skills increase etc. if you do not work shifts thats a 1500 - 2000 pay cut for life, and yes, they would want back any overpayment for time it has taken them to sort it, paramedics will at least be assimilated (BORG ?) on to scale 5 at no worse pay point than they have now, so no loss of pay at all. What dose it mean in reality? well it seems that technicians are not worth having to the nhs persons that wrote the initial outlines. The roumer is it was typed up by a clark that put paramedic down on a description of a tech job and it never got changed, hey presto, shaft the techs by not even being recognised. If many of you had ever met e tech, have been told they were a tech , first question " so do ambulances need a lot of fixing then?" - most seem to think my job is to fix them. Lord knows they fail enough, but no, i fix people, and so many people call me a paramedic i have to try to stop them, but it is just getting too much trouble. Where did the info of 4 5 and 5 come from? i would like to see any official notices of that and read the details, it might actualy make more sence, both techs and paras coming in at current pay points on existing scales. that would seem to be techs on scale 5 with paras scale 5 but about 2 or 3 steps increase. Status quo in other words, but just on the new scales, no body gets shafted, no one looses money if not doing shifts. Perhaps its just too simple an idea for them to handle, or was it they were going to uplift paramedics pay (lord knows they deserve it) at expence of the technicians? There are several things that need to be pointed out. One is that technicians always work supervised - not true, two, they never work alone - not true, three, they never supervise - not true, four they have less clinical responsibility - not true. even as what is known localy as an 80% staff member, i have had to do solo work on my way from one station to another, working un supervised, and technicaly unqualified and what did the control officer say? " go and do it, its just a taxi job" so is that all we are? even though i can dive drugs, defibrilate people, and even deliver the odd baby here and there, i am just a taxi driver? Just goes to show you what is realy thought of techs by some staf members, let alone the rest of the world. Wopit