B.C. paramedics could take job action in an effort to have their contract demands met.
According to union reps, paramedics in B.C. are sick and tired of taking care of the sick and tired for low wages, with a lack of equipment and proper work stations, while call volumes increase exponentially.
John Strohmaier, president for the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. (APBC), said the wage parity between paramedics and other first responders like police and firefighters is unjust.
"We've been at the [bargaining] table for about three months, and there has been no change," Strohmaier said. "Police and fire have been very supportive. It's baffling why there's such a discrepancy."
According to statistics found on APBC website, the average, hourly wage earned by a full-time paramedic after 10 years service in B.C. is $29.46.
Strohmaier said the union has been asking for wage parity for seven years now to no avail, so have said they may take job action by April 1."We've made sacrifices in the past so we could provide better services," Strohmaier said. "We took three zeros in that agreement."
Strohmaier said they are asking for a 31 per cent wage increase to make up for the years of imbalance while the provincial government is offering two per cent.
At www.saveourparamedics.com, the public can access information about the issue and read up on how services in their area have changed between 1996 and 2006. In Sechelt, call volumes increased by more than 238 per cent. In Madeira Park, they increased more than 32 per cent. There have been no new resources put into the Sechelt station since 2004 when the number of full-time paramedics went from two to four. "We can't just wheel in," said Sechelt paramedic Jim Gibson. "We're sitting out waiting in the hall with patients until there is room in emergency for them."
Gibson said this is because many more people are using emergency room services on the Coast than ever before.
When a paramedic is on call, they earn $2 an hour. They make a professional wage only if they are called to a scene. According to the website and confirmed by Gibson, it can take up to five years to get a full-time position somewhere in the province.
In Madeira Park, the only paramedics are two day and two night on-call first responders who head for the ambulance when paged. Some of those people come from the Lower Mainland and live in a small house dedicated to the station while they are on call.
"But they can't go fishing or out for a beer. They have to stay close and be ready to go," Gibson said. In Sechelt, full-time staff rotate through on-call shifts to cover holidays and sick days for their colleagues. This brings up another concern in the industry, which is the inability to recruit and retain paramedics when the on-call wage is so low.
"It costs anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 to qualify to become a paramedic," Strohmaier said about the three levels of paramedics which, combined with the $2 on-call wage for an average of five years, makes becoming a paramedic less than desirable.
Strohmaier is already looking with concern to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
"We don't have enough resources to do the job we have now," he said. "They're going to be drawing people out of communities like Sechelt to provide for the Olympics. Who's going to take care of the communities?"
A mediator from the Labour Relations Board was scheduled to meet with APBC and provincial reps yesterday (Thursday), but Strohmaier said he was not optimistic.
