Morale has hit a low point for Sunshine Coast paramedics.
On Tuesday, the provincial government introduced legislation that forces the province's 3,500 ambulance paramedics back to work in the middle of collective bargaining. The sudden move from Health Minister Kevin Falcon brings an end to the seven-month strike and is unprecedented in Canadian labour history. This is the first time a government has forced public employees to accept a collective agreement while the union is in the middle of voting on an offer from that same government.
The results of that vote, by the way, would have been released this week.
Legislating them back to work with Bill 21, the Ambulance Services Collective Agreement Act, while a vote is taking place is totally undemocratic. It's just plain wrong.
Falcon used the H1N1 virus to justify imposing this legislation. The close proximity of the 2010 Olympics is also another factor.
Neither situation holds much water. The H1N1 health crisis has been going on for months - in the middle of the strike. If that was the real reason, why did it take seven months for the government to move? If they were so concerned about this outbreak, why not negotiate a fair deal right away?
The NDP opposition released an internal memo this week from VANOC that demanded a guarantee of ambulance services either through a settlement or legislation before the Games in February.
So why not get a mediator, bring both sides to the bargaining table and hammer out a fair deal? What is wrong with paying paramedics what the other first responders like police and fire departments are getting paid? All these emergency responders play a vital role in our communities. They attend highway accidents, fires and disasters and keep our communities safe. Why is one group more important than they other? The simple answer is they are not.
If the government had just negotiated a fair deal for the paramedics, this issue wouldn't be an issue at all. But instead the raw feelings of paramedics are still just that - raw and angry.
Falcon and the Liberals may have a deal, and the strike is over, but they have done themselves no favours with the way they went about achieving that deal.
