B.C.’s paramedics union enters final day of negotiations, job action possible, union says | 24CA News
Friday marks the ultimate day of negotiations between the Ambulance Paramedics of BC and the Health Employers Association to achieve a brand new deal.
Veteran mediator Vince Ready was introduced in three weeks in the past to assist break the impasse in talks between paramedics and the province.
“Every day we wait or don’t have a deal, that hurts another patient or hurts our ability to provide the service we do,” mentioned Troy Clifford, Ambulance Paramedics of BC’s president.
A number of key points proceed to dominate the talks: wages, advantages and repair supply in rural areas.
The negotiations come as B.C.’s ambulance system is in the course of a disaster, officers have mentioned.
The union mentioned 89 ambulance models had been out of service through the newest bargaining session, which quantities to round 30 per cent of all ambulances within the province.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix acknowledged in December 2022 how difficult will probably be to repair the ambulance system.
“It’s my view that we have to take strong action to recruit paramedics to rural communities and that’s what was failing prior to 2017 and that’s what we tried to change by moving people from casual status to permanent status,” he mentioned.
The paramedics union president mentioned job motion is on the desk and may very well be a path to take if negotiations stall however he’s hopeful a deal might be reached quickly.
“Absolutely, if we don’t get the key issues addressed, job action is something we will consider down the road,” Clifford mentioned.
“Right now, we’ve been having a lot of positive movement and that’s a good sign because job action is a last-resort tool to use.”
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