micpar

WellI had a talk with a couple of members of that service in the bay of the RAH. As you can imagine, my talk centered around union. I was told that they were immune to the transition because they were a society... well back on the union bandwagon I go. LETS GET A PARAMEDIC UNION. Cupe has a link that can be found on the "cupe alberta" site

Alberta Coalition of CUPE Paramedics Calgary * Camrose * Cochrane * Edmonton * Fort MacLeod * Parkland * St. Paul * Taber * Westlock Provincial in Design and Local in Delivery Paramedics representing Paramedics With the endorsement and support of the Alberta Coalition of CUPE Paramedics, Rick Fraser, Paramedic and President of Local 3421 in Calgary and Gerry Wiles, Paramedic and President of Local 3197 in Edmonton have been working diligently to contact all elected officials that will have an impact on the future of Alberta Paramedics. We have been in direct contact with Alberta Health and Wellness, Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry, Alberta Health Services Board Representatives, both the Calgary and Edmonton, elected MLA’s, civic politicians and government policy makers. Our message is that Paramedics must continue to be able to represent Paramedics if we are to be an integral part of the health care system. Our Coalition has been making the case throughout this transition that Paramedics can be a great asset to our health care system with our credentials, our experience and our willingness to be active participants in the transition process. Under current legislation, there are four functional bargaining units in health care in each health region – direct nursing; auxiliary nursing; general support services; and paramedical professional and technical. Without a change to the current legislation Paramedics would be absorbed into one of the four functional bargaining units without a vote. Provincial in Design and Local in Delivery Paramedics representing Paramedics Through our Coalition we are speaking out about the importance of EMS best practices that support our ability to deliver top notch emergency medical services. We are the only Paramedics speaking about the future of EMS, recruitment and retention, and the need for more appropriate recognition for the responsibility we have in our communities and the lives we impact. Our Paramedic Coalition has and will continue to take strong leadership to move our profession forward. We will continue to take our rightful place as emergency health care professionals, with appropriate and comparable wages and benefits, in the health care system. The Alberta Coalition of CUPE Paramedics are united in this message. Paramedics have the right to represent Paramedics. Alberta Coalition of CUPE Paramedics. The Alberta Coalition of CUPE Paramedics is the only group of unionized Paramedics taking an active role in the transition of EMS to health services. We are speaking out about the potential advancement of Paramedics through good medical direction. We are speaking out about the opportunity for higher education in universities so that eventually we can do our own medical base evidence research for our profession. We are the only Paramedics speaking out about our rights and our vision for the future. We are asking the provincial government and lobbying MLA’s and government policy makers to designate a 5th functional bargaining unit for Paramedics. This bargaining unit would include all ambulance attendants in each health region. This will give Paramedics the right to play an integral role in our future without conflict of interests from other allied health professionals. With the designation of a 5th functional bargaining unit Paramedics would have the right to decide who is the ‘best’ bargaining agent to represent Paramedics.[/align]

the RFP that has been put out by the government is 70 pages long, its going to take some time to review but a co-worker has pointed this little bit out to me. I like this part... EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS "Service Providers must illustrate the ability for dispatch staff to have immediate access to someone with Paramedic certification or equivalency or higher for real time decision making on situations or decisions not appropriately addressed by accepted protocols."

2 points to ponder, first the newest news letter from the gov is available, go to the "canadian paramedic web" . I dont know how to copy the link to this site. second I am posting the draft copy of a recent interview that was conducted by Edmonton Paramedic Union. some of the questions might not be relivent to your service, please post any questions that you may have. The following is a summary of an interview with members of an EMS service in Alberta that has been involved in the transition of EMS for the last three years. This service was one of the two trials that the province began in 2005 after the transition was stopped. This service currently has approximately 200 staff and operates between 17-23 ambulances. This interview was conducted by 2 members of Edmonton Paramedic union CUPE 3197, Ian Henry and Michael Parker on August 26 2008 Deployment ALS/BLS/PRU – the old system comprised of ALS units in all major locations and BLS units in minor locations, some volunteer units. Current system involves some ALS/BLS and EMR units. Units may have 1 paramedic and 1 EMR on due to staff shortage. Since transition there has been a degradation of service. Movement of trucks – (for coverage) – outlying stations can remain unmanned for up to 90min then other units will “flex” to the half way point or “flex” to another station. Hours of work – at the major centers it is 12hr shift with 4 on 4 off At sub stations shifts are 24 hr and 4 on 4 off. Of the 24 hours, 4 hours are “core” meaning at station and the remainder is “flex”. If an employee accrues greater than 12 hours work they are paid overtime and pulled off the road after 16 hours, then 8 hours of mandatory rest. That crew will only be accessed in disaster. Who makes transport destination decision? Patients are transported to the home station hospital unless stratified to a larger hospital in the area. Do you do “Newton’s Cradle”? Newton’s Cradle is the movement of a patient from outlying area to major center by the unit from the outlying area exchanging with the “city” unit at a designated half way point. The rural unit continues on to the city with city staff and the city unit returns to the rural station with the rural staff. This process is found to get the rural unit in service quicker and it is safer to exchange crews rather than exchange the patient. This process was developed in this health region and the answer is YES. Regions Boundaries~ Are there hard borders or is everything open? No boundaries exist within this region, and units have gone outside the region for patients. The closest car for the closest trip. Does your area cover just the old health region or do you extend past those boundaries? As the program is designed around closest car to the closest trip, the boundaries have extended, or been reshaped. Backup mutual aid – No known mutual aid exists because all units are employed by the health authority Do you have trucks from other services pull trips in your areas? Yes, the borders of the health region are the borders of the province and at times out of province EMS is closer so they transport the patient Where are the trucks, how many, and what class? Units are stationed in all communities that have hospitals in the region. 17-20 units within the region and staffing level depends on availability ALS/BLS/EMR/PRU Fire response full time vs. volunteer When are they utilized? Fire services are utilized as co-responder and first responders. A co-responder would be utilized in a highway collision and a first responder would be utilized when there is no EMS in the community. First responder program is not limited to the fire department but also accesses civilians and equips them with medical aid equipment. This is also the case at large industrial sites that are a distance from the nearest EMS station. How do you communicate with them? Fire departments have radio systems that we link to, some first responders we have no communication with. Relationship/EMS Good working relationship between fire and EMS Stations amenities Beds/ kitchen/TV…who pays for it. Beds are provided, TVs are supplied by the staff and biweekly employee contribution to “slush” fund for cable. 24hr shifts showers. Full amenities Parking – Non-issue When are you allowed to sleep/eat? No scheduled meal breaks and staff prefer the full days pay to unpaid meal break. Sleep is allowed in the last 6 hours of the night shift. Describe the down time in an urban station? On a night shift if you get 3 hours, then its been a good shift. Equipment Is there an equipment committee? Yes there is but it is not functioning currently. Is there a central stores for the region? Yes, all equipment and supplies come from one location. There is currently no spare equipment. Who pays and provides uniforms? The employer supplies initial uniforms when hired and is replaces on an “as needed” basis. Boots are also replaced on an “as needed basis. There is no points system for yearly issue. Is all equipment standardized? It is the intent to standardize the system but it is not in practice. E.g. Units are gas, diesel, dodge, chev, ford, high top, mod and due to the rising cost of diesel the next two trucks that have been ordered will be gas. Do districts have designated truck? No, refer to the Newton’s cradle. When the EMS system was transitioned to the health authority all identifying decals were removed and regional stickers were placed on the units. If truck breaks down who fixes and do you get that truck back again? A city employee on contract to the health region fixes the trucks. When the unit is returned to service it is placed either in queue or in service wherever needed Dispatch/ communications Lateral movement/bargaining unit? Dispatch is currently within the bargaining unit and employees can transition from the floor to the dispatch center but it will be with a reduced rate of pay. How is a unit assigned to an event? 2-way radio tones followed by call information. No redundant backup. Do you have GPS, Imobile or other mapping aids? GPS system is coming but no date for delivery. Currently map books and county maps are used. Units are currently equipped with a generic com. terminal that was purchased from a US law enforcement supplier and is configured as such, Not for EMS. Do you use E-PCR? Yes we use a system that is different from either Edmonton or Calgary and not compatible. The health authority IT department did not approve this system and they are not willing to develop it further. Do you think your dispatch center is capable of handling more volume or more expansion? Dispatch recently had a retrofit and they have outgrown it. Current dispatch system needs to move to another facility? What do you think is going to happen to your dispatch center in the future? Unknown. Absorption of services How was the transfer done? Radios/equipment. The radio system is being transitioned to a standard system but as of now it is not complete. Equipment. Standardization has been difficult as larger centers spare equipment is now moved to outlying areas. E.g. traction splints are not available. How did rural service accept their truck being pulled for coverage? There is no real change in the rural unit availability. Staff are utilized more than before transition but no noticeable decrease in coverage. Private operators response to transition? Only one private operator existed prior to transition and that person was opposed to transition. Did the operators get management jobs? Yes, but conflict between management style occurred and that operator who was then promoted to supervisor following transition no longer works for the health authority. All other employees prior to transition that wanted to keep their jobs did. There were a substantial number of people that did resign because they did not want to commit the hours that would be required. E.g. self-employed person in rural private service did not want to go to another town for 3 hours of coverage. How was pay, hours of work equalized? Over the term of a three-year contract all pay grids were converged to line up with the urban center. The completion of that transition occurred in April of 2008. Urban pay increases were held to a minimum due to the cost of the rural increases. Two distinct shift schedules were developed from the beginning of transition and that was rural 24hr/ 4 on 4 off and urban 12hr/ 2 day, 2 night 4 off. Equal pay for either the rural 24/hr or the urban 12/hr. Have you heard if you will absorb more areas? It has been said that the health regions will consolidate to 5 regions but unknown date. Portability How does one go from one area to another? A staff member can apply for a vacancy within the service and the decision rests on MERRIT and seniority is last to be factored in. only in the event of a “tie breaker” between two staff is the seniority measured. Can staff be force to move? Staff can be deployed to another station if operation needs dictate but only for short term. Staff cannot be forced to a permanent location. Bumping of staff? No Is there a partner pick? NO Seniority Was consideration given for prior service to those who were absorbed? Seniority was only given to those that came from another unionized service. No service credit was given to the staff of the private service. Do you consider ACP number or years of service when determining seniority in HSAA? Only years of service within the union. Has there been any discussion within the union on how future services will transition seniority into your service? We would maintain past practice. Pension/benefits Comparison of collectives – Completed through CUPE office. Do you currently have a supplemental pension? NO, follow up question – your contract is currently open, are you seeking the supplemental pension. Unknown. Supervision In scope vs. out of scope? Supervisors are in scope How is their seniority determined? Date of hire. What is their level of pay and how is that determined? Percentage higher as per the collective agreement. Responsibilities for supervisors Can they discipline? Supervisors can discipline, able to give suspension not able to terminate. Do they work on car? Yes, sups are the staff member on the PRU. Supervisors can be either Paramedics or EMT’s Training Paid vs. non-paid? 48hours paid training/year and must be core training and not just examinations. On duty vs. off duty? - Both If off duty is it classed as OT? – No training is straight time Is it mandatory? Yes Are there dedicated training personnel? One staff member that works a 0.8 position for 200 staff. Who pays for ACP registration? Staff Who pays for drivers’ license renewal and medical? Staff Meal breaks/allowance Are you allotted down time? No meal breaks, (reference to earlier conversation, staff want full days pay over meal breaks) Are you reimbursed for food and OOP expenses? Yes, if you are outside the region for greater than 12hrs. Max $36.00 day, to cover 3 meals. Are you reimbursed if you are sent to another station for the shift? No. HSAA How much autonomy do you have? NONE Who does your negotiations? Labor Relation’s Officer (LRO), analyst/researcher, Staff rep. Are you able to negotiate different collectives for your group? Through joint application of HSAA and Health Authority to the LRB we currently have an appendix to the provincial agreement. Do you have wage/benefit parity with the provincial agreement? No we are paid less than the provincial agreement. Do you have membership meetings and who is at these meetings? Poor turnout, meetings are held at the EMS station. How much are your dues? 1.5% Do you have your own operating budget? Yes, we receive $200.00 a year from HSAA. To be used for paper and other needed items. What do you do for office space? We use a 2-drawer filing cabinet that is kept in the main station. Are union executives paid an honorarium for work they do? No What is the structure of HSSA? President Board Senior LRO LRO Chair (EMS) Vice chair (EMS) Treasurer (EMS) Employee rep (EMS) Who makes decisions on grievances and what goes to arbitrations? The employee owns the grievance until step 2 then HSAA holds the rights. Are there HSAA reps available to you in your region? No Negotiations How do you decide what to change with negotiations? Staff surveys are collected and given to LRO Do you get to negotiate your own contract? No Notes, for a union that pays 1.5% of payroll to the union – average $70000 and 200 members is 210,000/year in union dues. Following transition restrictions of speed for the operator of the ambulance were removed by health region OH&S

Dust devil, thanks for the question. It’s not my place to discuss the purpose of LDT’s in Alberta. What I want to focus on here is the comments you posted regarding the fact that union does nothing more than pit employer against worker. I would start by pointing out the monumental improvement that paramedics from Edmonton/Calgary/ BC ambulance Paramedics achieved when they combined forces and challenged the federal government. This lobbying gave paramedics ACROSS CANADA the right to a supplemental pension. I will clarify that, YOU now have the ability to serve 25 years and retire with an unreduced pension, if it can be negotiated into your contract. I feel that this is a concern for the profession. Second I will talk about the Paramedic Guard of Honor. These teams are supported for the most part by union dollars. Uniforms, travel expenses, time off, training. You will find these guys from across Canada at every Line of Duty Death, of a paramedic. These are just two points about a strong union that I feel improve this profession. The movement to unify this province has nothing to do with the destruction of any employer. The new employer is the Government of Alberta; the current guy will now just be a middle man, which means that there is no control over how much he will be paying his employees. It is clear that unit utilization will increase in the rural service. The fight is for Paramedics that are now employed by the Government of Alberta, and have been deemed essential services. These Paramedics deserve equal wage and benefits province wide. I look forward to your reply Mike

Alberta site sounds good, cant we just start one on this site as a sub-forum? I want to just put out a small discription of what a provincial union could look like. Currently Edmonton is in the process of unionizing a service in the area. they will become a sub-local of Edmonton (not enough staff to fill all chairs of the executive) the negotating team will be edmonton paramedics with the support of CUPE national. in services that have larger work forces then they would have the ability to fill the seats and lead their own union, with CUPE as the big brother. Currently Edmonton and Calgary own their own union offices, have their own operating budget and make decisions on issues that affect paramedics. CUPE national provides a service agent to assist with legal opinion ect. This is part of the framework of a "Paramedic Union" I am not putting this up to slam any other union, what I want to say is that if we are going to unite the province like the UNA it takes money, well our numbers are not big enough for that, A system like the IAFF is not included in the four functioning bargining units currently in health care. Cupe in edmonton provides us with the independance of a paramedic union and the backing of a national union. The following is a cut and paste from the chief shop in edmonton that was posted on another web site and I think that he spells it out well. think this is a very exciting time for everyone in this province. EMS will be transitioned soon in the coming years and the opportunities for medics and EMTs will expand. We will also gain important respectability for our profession. As an industry we will finally be listened to and our opinions valued. The transition will bring working conditions up for the employees and increase patient care to the citizens of the province. I look to our brothers and sisters in Peace Country Health who have done just that. They are not perfect and it is a work in progress but finally small town EMS providers can make an equal living to what their brothers and sisters make in urban centers. Equipment, while not standardized, is up to better levels than one would see with private for profit providers. By being affiliated with the Health Region they have much more lateral movement for staff than is currently available to the rest of us. After viewing what has been done there I am impressed with the outcome of that pilot project. With any luck some of the lessons learned with the pilot project in Peace Country Health can be applied to the rest of the province. Now comes the real question. As the province begins taking over services that have divested they will, unless they already are, start unionizing. No large organization/working force within government is non-unionized. We, as a group, need to look at who the specific unions are right now and start unionizing the rest of the province. The province will unionize us. We need to control who that union is before a bargaining agent is dictated to us. Now I know a lot of you out there do not like unions. And in most small town services they may not be necessary. Years ago I worked in rural private. Wages were below poverty line. And equipment was junk. The employer told me that she could not afford better for us and we had to tough it out. I knew it was a lie as they had been in business for many years making money off the backs of newly graduated EMTs. I then worked for a fine small town municipal service. We had no need as the board took good care of us and we had access to them. That service has now been swallowed up in transition and is unionized because managers are further away, not accessible, and to ensure their voice is heard they organized themselves. Organizing the labor force is not a bad thing. Many things can be accomplished with unions. I now work in the city of Edmonton. We are unionized. We need to be. An organization our size can not function unless the work force is organized in some fashion. Our union is integrated with the management team to come up with solutions to many problems. Union executives serve on all committees, are invited and attend senior management meetings and our medics and EMTs negotiate the contracts. Our management includes us in operations because they know that we have something to contribute. Yes we do represent people during discipline process. As a union member though I have to remember that in any large organization it is not what the person did, but what process was followed. For all arguments there is another side. Also, our wages and new supplemental pension would not be possible if not for the hard work of our negotiating team. Our union local, and by that I mean our staff currently own our office space, have a part time secretary, and have money in investments. This money and office space is ours, we own it we control it. Think about that. We own our own office with money in the bank. We currently have a yearly operating budget of $500000/yr. Of that we give approx $150000 to CUPE national, leaving us with a total of $350000/yr. That is a lot of money that is utilized solely for the benefit of EMS personal. Our union is active in all areas of EMS. Our elected executive goes to conferences across the nation lobbying for us. On top of dealing with management our union helps provide a summer camping trip and Christmas party for all platoons, donates money to several charities, supports our Honor Guard, and numerous other events. The union executive is made up from elected EMTs and medics from the floor. Therefore you have medics representing medics. Now here comes the real debate. Who do we go with? We need a union that is made up of EMTs and medics who can represent both the rural and urban centers equally. We need a union where the dues paid by the medics and EMTs is controlled by those medics and EMTs. Finally we need a strong voice and backing so that our voice is heard. Our goals should be to raise not only working conditions but to ensure good patient care is provided across the province. Currently there are only four unions allowed in health care. HSAA, CUPE, AUPE, and UNA. IAFF currently has some of the best working conditions, contracts, and services. They do not only fire but EMS stand alone, and combined services. They are however not within the four mandated health care unions. They are a good option for us to look at. Getting the government to include as a health care union will be a challenge. UNA has done well representing the RNs of this province. When their president Heather Smith speaks people listen. There may be some chance that they would accept the medics but I doubt that they would accept EMTs as they have never accepted the LPNs. I don't think splitting up medics and EMTs strengthens our position. While as a medic I may see benefits of aligning with UNA I don't think I could sleep at night knowing my EMT partner is a "second class citizen". AUPE has represented some EMS services in the past. I am unsure if they still have some EMS services. They have a good structure where a local is formed and dues are in the control of the front line staff. They are only in Alberta so you don't have as strong a voice across the country. HSAA is a large national union that represents only health care workers. They have recently signed contracts for good money, shift differential, and benefits. We would be instantly be accepted as health care if we went with them and most of us would be looking at substantial raises. They unfortunately have a structure though that limits control. All dues from all working groups go into HSAA's account and groups are then given an annual budget from which to work. This budget is minuscule compared to what the local workers pass along to HSAA. In conversation with a chair from a large HSAA service they have an annual budget of $200/yr and a locked filing cabinet in the employers' station. This allows HSAA to assign a LRO (labor relations officer) to deal with all issues. It in effect gives employees a hands off approach. Most matters are dealt with by the HSAA appointed LRO. The appointed LRO deals with issues rather than the elected employees who are at the fore front of the issues. Also when it comes contract time we would be competing with all the other health care employees to have our concerns addressed at the bargaining table. HSAA does one provincial contract for everyone at one time. There would be no autonym or chance for individuality in HSAA. There are addendums currently for the independent EMS services but who knows how long that will last as the money and benefits are not as good in the addendums as it is in the provincial contract. The medics and EMTs would not be negotiating contracts that best suit their purposes as we would be lumped together with everyone else. And the medics and EMTs would not even be at the table when contracts are negotiated. HSAA provincial contracts have good money and benefits with a loss of control being the price we would pay. CUPE is the final alternative. It is a large national union representing a very diverse group of workers. A working group is given a local. That local then elects people from the floor to represent them with management. All dues are paid to the local then the local pays a portion to CUPE national for representation at a national level. Every local has a national rep that is assigned to them from the national office to consult with the local. That national rep usually has 10 locals that they assist in day to day operations as needed. This rep assists the local in dealing with issues but has no authority to direct the local. The elected officials and local members control all aspects of the union. The local decides the direction they want to go in not national or some other outside person. This is important because we need a union that we have control of. Because dues are first given to the local and only a portion is kicked up to CUPE national some of the locals have become quite wealthy and are able to have a strong influence on management decisions. CUPE locals have become integral in many services. BC Ambulance is entirely CUPE. They have a large membership. Now they may have become cumbersome, they do get to influence the way EMS is organized in BC. BC may be big enough to go to a stand alone union but so far they have not. The only reason I can think of is that some day they may need the help of all the other locals in Canada. CUPE has expressed interest in establishing an EMS division within CUPE much like what BC has. This would allow Alberta medics and EMTs more control over their destiny. We could keep individual locals with oversight by a provincial division. It would allow for the individuality our separate regions and services require to provide the best patient care and working conditions for staff. Much like what the teachers union currently has. Individual school boards negotiate with local teachers. Or we could have one big local similar to what BC has. The choice is ours, and that is the biggest advantage. Finally our concerns, whatever they may be, would be heard because we would have the freedom both financially and democratically to choose. Let's now review the pros and cons of the most likely unions we will be joining in the next few years IAFF pro - strong contracts - good working conditions - they deal only with EMS and fire con - not one of the four accepted health care unions - province unlikely to allow a 5th health care union UNA pro - nurses union has power to be heard in this province cons - unsure if they will accept medics into their fold - very unlikely they would accept EMTs as they have never accepted the LPNs AUPE pro - have had EMS contracts in past - good structure for locals con - not a national union HSAA pro - entire union is health care workers - current contract has good wages and benefits - disorganization within EMS has always been a problem so having a third party deal with all labor issues may be of benefit cons - lack of control disempowers the medics and EMTs of this province - hard for small group of EMS providers to have their voice heard in large group - lack of control for locals - dues are paid to HSAA who controls the money, not the people who pay those dues - minuscule budgets allotted to locals limits the influence workers can have on their own destinies CUPE pro - large national union - locals have budgets based on their dues - autonomy, let me say that again autonomy. both financially and democratically - ability to have one provincial local or many locals under a provincial division - while CUPE does not direct or control their locals they do offer support with national reps and any legal advise required - having national backing of over 570000 members when needed - supplemental pension... I know pension is not on some of our minds but imagine one day when we have 25 years of service and then full pension. no one but Calgary (CUPE) and Edmonton (CUPE) have this. con - we need to be involved in our own future - can no longer be arm chair quarter back Sorry for such a long post but I feel it necessary to share some of the insight I have gained over the past 14 years in EMS. I hope this starts some debate.

sounds like there are some people on this site from the south, my old home is coaldale, some times you need to go where the jobs are. I need to talk to you guys so please make contact either by phone or e-mail thanks mike

The "facts" that we are looking at are, how are unions currently set up throughout alberta, how do they compare to what currently exists in Edmonton/Calgary. important to us is how has transition affected the region of palliser. this region has been in a state of transition for 2-3years now. We recently concluded a trip to Peace regional and found the union to be lacking the paramedic atonomy that we currently hold. Dustdevil if you are interested we have built a power point presentation on our findings and would be more than happy to present it to you. Second to that we are providing information to services about our current local conditions in an attempt to secure a paramedic union provincewide. This might look somthing like the UNA. We would be attached to the larger voice of CUPE, but operate with the needs of EMS providers. Currently BC is under one union for the province. just to give you an example of what kind of strength that holds. The Unions of Edmonton, Calgary and BC paramedics combined to lobby the federal government and secured the right for paramedics Canada wide to have a supplimental pension. I recently returned from a Paramedic convention of CUPE members Canada wide. So, maybe this would be the development of a hybrid between UNA and IAFF. the first step is for all EMS providers to become educated on transition and build a strong future together.

Members of the Edmonton paramedic union will be on a fact finding mission to central and southern alberta begining in the first week of october, We will be bringing all current transition information to date. We will also be looking to talk to any non-union services that want info on unionization. This is a program to build one paramedic union that represents all members of the province. if you have an interest, please feel free to contact me at map461@shaw.ca or call me at 780-862-8376. Its your future, be part of it mike