No Chance of Settlement in Ambulance Paramedics Dispute Before Election Called

Monday, March 30, 2009 03:58 AM

Deputy labour minister Paul Straszak has delivered his report on the collective bargaining dispute between paramedics and the BC Ambulance Service.

The current contract expires on March 31, 2009, and the union has served the employer with notice to commence a strike on April 1.

Straszak reports that there is virtually no chance for a voluntary settlement between the parties prior to the issuance of the writs of election April 14.

"I am very concerned to learn that there is almost no chance for the two sides to reach a successful agreement before the election is called," said Labour and Citizens' Services Minister Iain Black. "During an election period, government is limited in its ability to deal with matters of public interest which may arise in the event of a strike by paramedics. However the public should be aware that the Labour Relations Board has set very high essential service levels should there be a strike, and we expect that patient care will not be affected."

The union has confirmed that it will maintain essential service levels.

On March 26, the deputy labour minister was instructed to inquire into the collective bargaining dispute. Straszak met separately with the employer and the union to identify the critical outstanding issues in order to determine the likelihood of a negotiated settlement before the election period.

Government has now received the deputy's report and is considering its next steps.

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Posted on Monday, March 30, 2009 03:58 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on March 30 2009 7:54 AM

OOOhhh the NDP and big unions must be happy about that! One nice thing about fixed election dates is that with a little planning the big union money can always organize a strike to show the taxpayers who is really running things in this province. BCTV would probably have to hire some actors for the usual union coverage in a BC election if there was no strike avialable.

Posted by: He speaks on March 30 2009 8:05 AM

Well, its a good thing they will maintain essential services...... so whats the problem.

Posted by: ammonra on March 30 2009 8:18 AM

OOOhhh the Libs and Government must be happy about that! One nice thing about fixed election dates is that with a little planning Government inaction can always stimulate a strike to show the taxpayers which party's faithful are really running things in this province. BCTV would probably have to hire some actors for the usual anti-union coverage in a BC election if there was no strike available.

Posted by: ammonra on March 30 2009 8:22 AM

It takes one day to reach an agreement. It has been done many times before, including by this government. Wasting two weeks investigating what the issues are when both sides already know from their negotiating sessions is nonsense enough, but then to complain that there is not enough time to reach an agreement is patent self-swerving nonsense.

Posted by: lost it all on March 30 2009 9:45 AM

Good one ammonra.

Posted by: mythoughts on March 30 2009 12:38 PM

Yes, very good comments ammonra. Thank you. Let's get Campbell canned in the next election. We can only hope.

Posted by: mythoughts on March 30 2009 12:41 PM

Yes, very good comments ammonra. Thank you. Let's get Campbell canned in the next election. We can only hope.

Posted by: Loki on March 30 2009 2:54 PM

OK sure, let's can Campbell.
Then who is ready and willing in the wings to take the heat? They are all self-serving idiots.
Better to keep your enemies closer than your friends. At least we know this evil and somewhat how to deal with it. A new government means learning how to manage or handle them, than years of beating it into them what to do.

Beside, the current government wants to let the next one take the blame for capitulating to the union.

Posted by: behappy on March 30 2009 4:15 PM

Has everyone forgotton what the NDP did to our province in the past?????? Wake up everyone...if you thinks it's bad now it could be much worse....

Posted by: lost it all on March 30 2009 4:24 PM

behappy, ask the people of Fort St. James and Mackenzie if it was worse when the evil NDP were in power? These communities were abandoned by Mr Campbell and the Provincial Liberals long before any hint of this current global economic crisis had started to manifest. Isn't it ironic how Mackenzie's representative in Victoria is the Minister of Forests, what a great example of representation he leads. I have not forgotten a thing of the past NDP, but I do not ever remember this province and the people of these two communities in worse condition.

Posted by: Born in BC on March 30 2009 4:41 PM

"behappy, ask the people of Fort St. James and Mackenzie if it was worse when the evil NDP were in power?"

Right, because the NDP could have prevented the morgage crisis in the US. If the NDP was in power it would all be roses and good times.

This is the type of comments that prove NDP supporters have very little common sense and understanding of the underlying issues. No government could have prevented the decline of the forest industry.

Ask a CAW member what militant unionism and declining productivity does for an economy. Then go vote NDP and soon we will be Windsor west.

Posted by: metalman on March 30 2009 5:57 PM

"Very high essential service levels"
So if essential service will be maintained at a very high level, how come we need all those paramedics? Methinks I smell poop from the bull. There will not be enough ambulances or paramedics to go around if there is more than one incident in a given area, that's what I think. It is shameful that those involved (the union and the province) have let it get to this point, This last minute crapola is all so unnecessary, if it were not for fear and greed, there could possibly be agreements made ahead of the expiration of contracts.
What the province needs to do is force the paramedics to stay at work, and do some real bargaining, right now, and get it settled, fast! The province is as much to blame as anyone, it should never get to the point of a strike by people we need to keep working, for all of our safety.
metalman.

Posted by: lost it all on March 30 2009 6:36 PM

Born in BC, can you not read? If you read my post I said and it is a fact that these two communities were suffering from BC Liberal policies long before and mortgage crisis had surfaced in the US. These two communities were the victims of BC Liberals policies of freeing up timber supply for corporations who control our BC forest industry.
As far as the CAW if you watched the news today you would have seen that labour is only 7% of the cost to manufacture both a GM and a Chysler vehicle, hardly the sole cause of the auto industry problems. Washington made it quite clear with the forced resignation of the GM CEO that perhaps poor management is a major source of the problems the big three auto manufacturers suffers from.