Job action escalates in BC

[rock_shoes]

As of 1800hrs September 18th, 2009, job action in the BC Ambulance Service/CUPE 873 labour dispute is hitting a new level. From now on there is a ban on overtime, working secondary operators, and picking up shifts left vacant for any reason. BCAS officials have publicly stated there are no recruitment or retention issues within the service and as such BC paramedics should not be required to work any overtime to keep cars staffed. This action is in direct violation of the current Essential Service Order and as such I expect we will be charged with contempt of court very soon.

Paramedic dispute could affect 2010 Olympics!

BC Paramedics only to work regularly scheduled shifts.

[rock_shoes]

Well it lasted the whole weekend. Without working overtime approximately 30% of the fleet in the lower mainland (home to approximately half of the residents of BC) was down. Some communities went without local coverage at all. In the interior the shortages on car were not as bad however staffing in the interior dispatch centre was down 60%. Excluded managers did their best to alleviate shortages in interior dispatch. The severe shortages experienced over this past weekend did not occur because paramedics refused to come into work. They occurred because paramedics stopped working extra shifts above and beyond those they are regularly scheduled. We stopped working beyond our contractual obligations for a single weekend and the whole service nearly collapsed.

As a result the BC Supreme Court issued a ruling dictating that BC paramedics will work their "usual overtime" and the union (CUPE 873) will rescind its direction to the contrary. Union direction was rescinded but not immediately following the Supreme Court’s decision. The union's direction was rescinded when the employer (BCAS) elected to return to the bargaining table with third party mediator Mark Atkinson.

It would appear that BC Supreme Court Justices have no qualms with ignoring labour law altogether. Good thing I live in a democratic country that doesn't support indentured servitude!

BC Paramedic labour talks to resume

[tniuqs]

You have got to be kidding ... To be dictated by a Judge and be forced to work .... this is craziness, how do they think that somehow imposing slavery will solve any issues with this job action or better serve the very people that they claim to protect with this crack pipe ruling ... what are the judges smoking out there ?

Guys in BC stand your ground cause if you don't the rest of us will have the very same shit and it will happen across the country ... I guess next will they putting medics in jail for refusing OT where did the concept of safety go ?

I am going to puke ... now essential services EMS are criminals because they want equal pay for equal work ? Taking it only a baby step further, so if the Police refuse OT will they put them in cells too ???

One has to wonder why we are fighting in Afghanistan and why our forefathers fought in WW1 WW2 or Korea ... this is a travesty and shameful

[rock_shoes]

Guys in BC stand your ground cause if you don't the rest of us will have the very same shit and it will happen across the country ... I guess next will they putting medics in jail for refusing OT where did the concept of safety go ?

I am going to puke ... now essential services EMS are criminals because they want equal pay for equal work ? Taking it only a baby step further, so if the Police refuse OT will they put them in cells too ???

I'm done with following the ESO myself. I'll be working my scheduled shifts and that's it from now on. No more picking up the slack when someone books off sick and no more staying late when someone out on the other car is late getting back for their first car shift. If they want to charge me with contempt of court I will not be posting bail. I'll walk down to the nearest police station and turn myself in. Have fun keeping the cars staffed when we all go to jail.

By contract as long as I'm "part time" (the knee-slapper that it is when this part-timer works over 100 hours a pay period), I only have to be available to work 8 shifts per month. I'm looking forward to the contempt charges this winter when I cut back to 8 shifts a month and do some private work. The head-hunter calls have already started for the upcoming season.

[Siffaliss]

I'm done with following the ESO myself. I'll be working my scheduled shifts and that's it from now on. No more picking up the slack when someone books off sick and no more staying late when someone out on the other car is late getting back for their first car shift. If they want to charge me with contempt of court I will not be posting bail. I'll walk down to the nearest police station and turn myself in. Have fun keeping the cars staffed when we all go to jail.

By contract as long as I'm "part time" (the knee-slapper that it is when this part-timer works over 100 hours a pay period), I only have to be available to work 8 shifts per month. I'm looking forward to the contempt charges this winter when I cut back to 8 shifts a month and do some private work. The head-hunter calls have already started for the upcoming season.

... and with Alberta having gone "loco provincial", it's all just a matter of time before that happens here. The singlemost important reason I'm in school right now for EMT-P is for the mobility. If somewhere else in Canada isn't appealing, there are plenty of other countries a paramedic is welcome in.

[rock_shoes]

... and with Alberta having gone "loco provincial", it's all just a matter of time before that happens here. The singlemost important reason I'm in school right now for EMT-P is for the mobility. If somewhere else in Canada isn't appealing, there are plenty of other countries a paramedic is welcome in.

Going ALS definitely enhances your mobility. No question about that.

Where I'll have to disagree with you is with regards to the provincial system being the problem. Run properly the provincial system has the potential to be far superior to running a smattering of regional or municipal services. Unfortunately BCAS is currently being run by shortsighted government lackeys who are content leaving things in the dark ages as long as lord Gordon Campbell presides over our fair province.

[Siffaliss]

Going ALS definitely enhances your mobility. No question about that.

Where I'll have to disagree with you is with regards to the provincial system being the problem. Run properly the provincial system has the potential to be far superior to running a smattering of regional or municipal services. Unfortunately BCAS is currently being run by shortsighted government lackeys who are content leaving things in the dark ages as long as lord Gordon Campbell presides over our fair province.

The new provincial system in Alberta is anything but "run properly". They went into it with an immensely insufficient plan; already in debt over a billion dollars around the April 1 takeover date and they expected to sustain and ohhh, better the health care system by making EMS a provincial thing? The provincial government and AHS seems to be flying by the seats of their pants, and don't appear to have much of an idea what they're doing, and the little bit they have done hasn't made any of us here feel more secure about working EMS in Alberta. There are issues with forcing people into a union without giving them the right to vote on it, issues with freezing wages of EMT's in certain areas until the rest of the province "catches up". I am Alberta born and raised and have lived in the same area for my entire life, and used to want to spend the rest of my life here. However with the career I have chosen and the recent changes in EMS and AHS trying to run things with their own shortsightedness, I feel I am also left in the dark and will certainly not vote for Stelmach in our next provincial election.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Siffaliss

[rock_shoes]

The new provincial system in Alberta is anything but "run properly". They went into it with an immensely insufficient plan; already in debt over a billion dollars around the April 1 takeover date and they expected to sustain and ohhh, better the health care system by making EMS a provincial thing? The provincial government and AHS seems to be flying by the seats of their pants, and don't appear to have much of an idea what they're doing, and the little bit they have done hasn't made any of us here feel more secure about working EMS in Alberta. There are issues with forcing people into a union without giving them the right to vote on it, issues with freezing wages of EMT's in certain areas until the rest of the province "catches up". I am Alberta born and raised and have lived in the same area for my entire life, and used to want to spend the rest of my life here. However with the career I have chosen and the recent changes in EMS and AHS trying to run things with their own shortsightedness, I feel I am also left in the dark and will certainly not vote for Stelmach in our next provincial election.

That's what happens when you go in half cocked. The reason the transition went so much more smoothly when BC went provincial was the timing. In the 1970's EMS didn't really exist in BC. Larger centers had a smattering of private services while in smaller communities the local undertaker would whip out and pick people up in the hearse. In Alberta they're trying to merge a bunch of services that are already functional. When something is already functional it takes real planning to merge things successfully. It doesn't sound like much thought went into the whole thing.

Provision of service, particularly in rural areas, needs a complete re-think. Where better to develop something like a Paramedic Practitioner than a rural area where transport times are longer and many of the hospitals have to send patients out for definitive care? This will require further integration with hospitals while currently it seems like we are trying to distance ourselves to our own detriment.

Edited September 24, 2009 by rock_shoes

[WolfmanHarris]

Provision of service, particularly in rural areas, needs a complete re-think.

Agreed. But...

Where better to develop something like a Paramedic Practitioner than a rural area where transport times are longer and many of the hospitals have to send patients out for definitive care?

before BC could even do this I think they need to get their practice models sorted out. BC still has an incredibly short PCP education compared to other parts of the country, and if we are to move to a proper degreed program for Paramedicine that is nationally recognized the short PCP programs (like BC's), offered from numerous technical schools (like Alberta and others) need to be pushed aside. Not actively maybe, but made obselete by a four year University grads filling the workforce.

This will require further integration with hospitals while currently it seems like we are trying to distance ourselves to our own detriment.

Healthcare yes, hospitals I don't think so. Look to the advent of the Local Health Integration Teams (LHIN) in Ontario for an example of various professions working together. If we're to practice with greater independence and move from Pre-hospital to Out of hospital care, the last thing we want to be entirely under is the hospital.

With solidarity,

- Matt

[rock_shoes]

Agreed. But...

before BC could even do this I think they need to get their practice models sorted out. BC still has an incredibly short PCP education compared to other parts of the country, and if we are to move to a proper degreed program for Paramedicine that is nationally recognized the short PCP programs (like BC's), offered from numerous technical schools (like Alberta and others) need to be pushed aside. Not actively maybe, but made obselete by a four year University grads filling the workforce.

You're not going to get any disagreement from me on this one. They literally cram 2 semesters of material into a single semester here in BC and it's far from ideal. One point to consider however is that educational time required to become an ACP is very similair across Canada. ACP's would of course be the group drawn upon to develop Paramedic Practitioner programs. The provinces with shorter PCP programs typically have longer ACP programs with the opposite being true in Ontario where most PCP programs are 4 semesters. Front loading vs. back loading the programs. Personally I lean towards front loading programs and giving BLS providers a better foundation to work from (as in Ontario). Governments have favoured back loading in the past because, at least in BC, they used to fund paramedic programs. Paid training, though I would love to have someone else pick up the tab, has held us back in many ways. Now that paid training is gone I expect to see a great many changes. One of the first things I want to see is BCIT taking over all ALS paramedic training from the Justice Institute (currently the only school providing ACP training in BC). The Justice Institute is the biggest reason I'm applying to the EMT-P (ACP for the rest of Canada) program at SAIT in Calgary(a 2 year ACP program to help make up for my PCP programs shortcomings).

Healthcare yes, hospitals I don't think so. Look to the advent of the Local Health Integration Teams (LHIN) in Ontario for an example of various professions working together. If we're to practice with greater independence and move from Pre-hospital to Out of hospital care, the last thing we want to be entirely under is the hospital.

With solidarity,

- Matt

I should rephrase a little. Currently BC is divided into several health authorities. Hospitals and long-term care facilities fall under these health authorities. A Paramedic Practitioner program will require carefully planned integration with the health authorities. As things are currently structured that integration will be impossible without developing a close working relationship with our base hospitals. Essentially hospitals are regional while the ambulance service is provincial.