Up in the sunny north east we get 2 half hour unpaid and uninterupted breaks per 12 hour shift. Management interpreted a4c to mean we would still have to be available during our breaks but we would not be getting paid for them and best of all because we werent getting paid our breaks they wouldnt count as working time. This meant an increase in our working week to make up for the time they werent paying us for, we would however be paid an allowance if we were interrupted. It was agreed by staff and management to go to BINDING ARBITRATION which we did, The result was if we had to be available then it was working time and had to be paid. It also went on to say that all breaks that took our working week over 37.5 hrs had to be payed at overtime rates. Management promptly renegged on the agreement of adhereing to BINDING ARBITRATION and tell the local media that we have refused an availability payment that they have so generously offered everytime a story hits the headlines which it frequently does. In the past you were lucky to get a break at all but now its guaranteed and really does make a difference when your getting hammered relentlessly for 12 hrs and makes weekend night shifts almost bareable. There will probably be people out there who read this and think were all just wingeing about nothing,well try working 12hrs a day without a break it stops being funny after a while. There were many of us who did not want to implement the current arrangements and were very uneasy about not responding during our breaks but go in to any north east amulance station now and ask if they want to go back to paid breaks and watch the response. And dont believe everything you read not just in the sun but all newspapers.