‘Constant burnout’: B.C. ambulance paramedics to take strike vote in February

The union that represents over 6,000 ambulance paramedics and emergency dispatchers in B.C. will proceed with a strike vote next week after months of contract negotiations with the government.

The Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia (APBC) will conduct the strike vote from Feb. 2 to Feb. 16.

“We don’t want to strike,” Ian Tait, the communications and social media director for the APBC, told Daily Hive.

“We’re very frustrated, because we have went to great lengths to try to resolve this, outside of the media, outside of a strike vote. We want to deal with this at the table. We’ve offered and begged to have a mediator appointed. We’ve come up with other frameworks where we can come up with a deal,” he said.

The Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), the accredited bargaining agent for APBC, told Daily Hive in a statement that they “indicated support for engaging in mediation on some of the outstanding issues and have discussed this approach with the union.”

They added that while they respect the right of unions to pause negotiations and consult members, “BC has robust essential services requirements for the health sector to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health of the public in the case of any job action.”

“There are still outstanding Essential Service Orders that need to be issued by the Labour Relations Board before any health care union/bargaining association can engage in legal job action.”

Tait said that since they’re an essential service, they don’t “walk off the job” during a strike, but they would have rolling striking action.

What are the union’s concerns?

Tait said that APBC is in “a staffing crisis,” with its members being overworked and dealing with burnout.

They’ve added thousands of full-time positions across B.C. in the last five to ten years, replacing a precarious pager pay system where workers were only paid when their pager went off.

While they’ve filled a few thousand positions, they haven’t kept up with those retiring or getting injured. There are still over 400 full-time positions in the province that are empty.

Another challenge APBC faces is the strain on their travelling paramedic program, where they send paramedics across the province to staff rural, remote, and Indigenous communities to fill in service gaps.

Tait said the government has offered them a general wage increase of 12 per cent over four years (three per cent a year), which they are okay with.

“We’re not asking for the moon. We just want something fair compared to what other unions have already settled for. And most importantly, we really need a bigger investment in mental health and wellness supports,” he said.

The union is looking for an increase in “flex money,” a separate pot of funds used to improve things inside the collective agreement.

He said the government is currently offering them less than what other unions have signed for, but didn’t say what the numbers were, saying, “It’s kind of hard to get into the specifics.”

Currently, their members get $1,000 a year for mental health support. Since not all of their 6,000 members utilize that, he said it is “hard to put a number on it.”

“What we’re hoping is to increase that number for those members who might access those supports. The problem we’re finding is that more and more members are accessing these supports every year because of the constant burnout and stress of the job.”

Tait said that BC Ambulance is noticing an increasing call volume every year, with nearly a million calls per year over a million square kilometres.

“The amount of work that our paramedics do per shift is way higher than any comparable ambulance service. So our members are working harder, they’re working longer, they’re burning out more. They’re getting more injured, more psychologically injured.”

He said that the $1,000 could “double or triple easily,” due to the high cost of mental health services.

Tait added that the union isn’t far apart from the government’s offer.

“The issue is the government’s bargaining agent at this time just basically told us that they’re just not willing to engage and move forward right now. So we need them back at the table. The ball is in their court,” he said.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-ambulance-strike-vote-february