Paramedics in Peterborough, Ont., gathered Tuesday as a show of unity as contract negotiations have broken down between their union and Peterborough County.
Outside the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough County-City Paramedics signed a large banner in support of their negotiating team. Their contract with the county expired at the end of 2022.
Bargaining throughout this year has been unsuccessful, prompting the paramedics’ union — CUPE 4911 — to file for conciliation.
Among the key areas of concern are inadequate staffing levels and the increased workload on current staff.
“The pressures facing paramedics right now is something we haven’t seen before,” CUPE 4911 president Natalie Waters said.
The union claims it has been offered “a fraction” of what paramedics in neighbouring municipalities are receiving.
“What’s on the table would lower us to any of our services in terms of wages,” Waters said. “And we’re seeing concessions being asked for, no increases to paramedicals, no mental health increases.”
Waters says paramedics are working 84-hour weeks. And some days, there isn’t enough staff to fill ambulances on the road. She also says the service is struggling to retain part-time paramedics.
“There’s options. You can go work at any service,” she said. “Other allied services are hiring — police are hiring, firefighters. We’ve lost full-time staff to other positions, other careers. It’s taking a toll on our personal lives.”
The City of Peterborough declined to comment on the negotiations, noting Peterborough County is the service manager for paramedic services through the Peterborough Region Joint Services agreement.
In correspondence to Global News, Peterborough County stated it has added eight full-time paramedics, 16 paramedics in non-traditional roles and a new ambulance to improve service coverage.
“Staffing is just one piece of a very complex puzzle,” the county stated. “This has been an ongoing concern for years that was exacerbated through the pandemic.”
The county says it agrees that Ontario is facing a health-care crisis that extends beyond paramedics and staffing. Among other contributing factors the county notes are offload delays, a shortage of health-care and primary care professionals, and an increase in mental health-related illness and drug addiction.
The county says it continues to “work within the parameters of the operational restrictions placed on the service, along with the union to try and alleviate some of the pressures.”
Conciliation is scheduled for this Friday. If an agreement can’t be reached between the union and the county, paramedics have the ability to strike.
“The County shares the union’s concern that the bargaining process has not progressed to the benefit of all parties as quickly as either party would likely desire, but it is not out of line with the experiences in other municipalities,” the county stated. “The parties will be returning to the bargaining table this week with the assistance of a Ministry of Labour appointed conciliator and we remain hopeful that productive and collaborative discussions will take place which results in a fair deal for both the County and our paramedics.”
— with files from Germain Ma/Global News Peterborough
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