Members of the Ambulance Paramedics and Ambulance Dispatchers Bargaining Association and the Health Employers’ Association of BC employer-members have ratified an agreement.
The approximately 4,500 members of this bargaining association are represented by CUPE Local 873. The paramedics and ambulance dispatchers are employees of BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), which is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority.
The agreement includes: a three-year term (April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2022); general wage increases of two per cent over the three-year term; and negotiated language that supports a major transformation of the ambulance service model with the conversion of on-call and standby positions to new, permanent paramedic jobs in smaller communities and other changes that support service delivery improvements.
Powell River unit chief Terry Dyer referred the Peak to Sarah Morris, media relations, BC Emergency Health Services. Morris said the new collective agreement marks a major advancement in the service model provincially, and it’s going to take some time to work through implementation of the changes.
“We will be conducting a community-by-community analysis; this process will take a number of months,” said Morris. “Once the evaluation is complete, we also need to respect the collective agreement in terms of adequate notification of new positions that our employees can apply for. We are excited about the positive changes for our staff and the communities they work in that will come with this new agreement over the next three years.
“At this stage we don’t have community-level details to share, however, we will announce any significant changes as soon as we can.”
It is unknown at this time what effects the new collective agreement will have on Powell River paramedic and ambulance resources.
Morris said regarding current BCEHS resources in Powell River: there are two ambulances (and one additional vehicle, if required) and 16 paramedic staff, comprised of four full-time equivalent positions and 12 part-time positions.
The new agreement is the first standalone, collectively bargained contract for BC ambulance paramedics and dispatchers since 2004. It contains hundreds of new regular paramedic jobs across the province and a number of new health and safety initiatives. The new agreement will be applied retroactively to April 1, 2019, with many changes scheduled to be implemented immediately or in the coming months.
“This new collective agreement introduces perhaps the most significant changes our workplace has ever seen in a single period of bargaining,” said CUPE 873 (Ambulance Paramedics of BC) president Cameron Eby. “We’re now on a path to create regular, family supporting paramedics jobs in every community in BC, while ensuring reliable emergency coverage for our patients.”
