Now that the provincial election is in the books and government is slowly getting back into the swing of things, is it not time to get back to the bargaining table and hammer out a deal with B.C. paramedics?
Paramedics have been on strike since April 1. They are striking over issues of wage disparity, working conditions and understaffing due to the ever-growing problems in recruitment and staff retention.
Paramedics in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast are in a constant struggle to maintain a reliable service. They are faced with a growing population and, in the case of the Coast, an aging population. Call volumes continue to increase and the rural stations on the Coast are having a tough time staffing those stations. It's becoming more and more difficult to attract new staff, let alone keep existing staff, with the high cost of paramedic training and low wages. The $2 an hour pager pay is simply not competitive enough compensation in this day and age, especially in these times of economic uncertainty.
The time has come for paramedics to be on an even playing field with police and firefighters.
We're certainly not suggesting that police and firefighters don't play a vital and important role - of course, they do - but RCMP officers have a set wage and are not being paid every time they respond to a call. The same goes for the firefighters, and with the vast majority of them being volunteers, they have other day jobs, while the paramedics do not. Being a paramedic is their job.
All three emergency organizations are first responders. When there is a serious accident on Highway 101, Sunshine Coast RCMP, firefighters and B.C. ambulance paramedics all respond. Sometimes paramedics may be the first on the scene. They may be the first ones to calm down an accident victim, deal with family members or distraught witnesses at the scene. They are working as hard as any of the emergency personnel to do a job and provide support and care. Why should they not be treated with the same level of respect as the other emergency personnel in this province?
Two facilitators, Barry O'Neill for CUPE and Stephen Brown, associate deputy minister of health services, have recently been appointed to try to identify some common ground and get the two sides to sit down and hammer out a new deal. We hope common ground is found soon. It's time to make a deal.
