British union suspends ambulance strikes for talks with government

Britain's Unite trade union said on Sunday it had suspended ambulance worker strikes planned for March 6 and 8 in order to enter into pay talks with the government.

The move by Unite follows the announcement on Friday by two other trade unions, GMB and Unison, that they had also paused national ambulance strikes in order to hold talks in a months-long dispute over pay.

"Following further assurances from the government over the weekend Unite has in good faith agreed to pause the strike action," Unite head of operations Gail Cartmail said.

"If the meeting doesn't meet these assurances strike action will resume," Cartmail added in a statement.

Unite said the assurances related to confirmation that any deal would include new money, rather than putting pressure on existing budgets.