St John workers are taking strike action and legal action, in their bid for after-hours pay

First Union has filed in the Employment Court, demanding St John comply with a collective agreement signed last year.

It comes as a newly released report found the ambulance service is not living within its means -- a claim the organisation denies.

Union organiser Sarah Stone alleges the Government's given St John 29-million dollars to settle the agreement.

Stone says if today's mediation fails, people will feel the effects from strikes planned for Wednesday and Saturday.

She says some people already have to wait five or eight hours for an ambulance... and those times will be increased.