The Health Service Union (HSU) representing ambulance officers, the Police Association and Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU) will be meeting officials from Unions NSW.

“The heads of the three unions involved will be meeting officials from Unions NSW to sort out what is going on with Ambulance Rescue,” Peter Rumball, an HSU Hunter organiser, told the Mercury yesterday.

The meeting of the three unions with NSW Unions was organised in the wake of Premier Maurice Iemma’s resignation and the election of Nathan Rees to that post.

Union officials and members of all three services will be watching closely to see who take the new cabinet positions of Police, Health and Emergency Services ministers.

The Industrial Relations Commission hearing last week recommended that ambulance officers retain their rescue duties and that negotiations over the long-term future of rescue services continue between the HSU, NSW Health and the Ambulance Service of NSW.

Earlier last week, the state government announced that 14 of the state’s 325 rescue units would shift from the NSW Ambulance Service to NSW Fire Brigades – with the latter managing 186 of the units.

The Ambulance Service said the move would see 88 ambulance rescue personnel shifted to frontline paramedic duties.

Ambulance Rescue at Rutherford was told it would not be affected by the move.

But many of its personnel said they believed they would be out of their jobs in a few weeks – as soon as fire officers had been trained to do their work.

In agreeing to keep ambulance services as they were until final negotiations could be completed, Industrial Relations Commission Justice Monika Schmidt requested a further hearing next week if discussions between the union, state government and the Ambulance Service stall.