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| Lights and Sirens: Issue #2 - Sept '99 |
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| Strike Vote Q&A Fact Sheet Bargaining Bulletins OPSEU letter to invoke job registry for
crown agents |
Additional Articles OPSEU Fights for jobs OPSEU wins wage parity
September 1999 Fire, police have arbitration; OPSEU has called on the government to give paramedics the same right to interest arbitration as firefighters and police. "Strikes by ambulance paramedics can be avoided if the government treats all emergency services equally," said OPSEU President Leah Casselman in an Aug. 11 news release. Firefighters and the police don’t have the right to strike. They settle their bargaining disputes by going to a three-person arbitration panel. Interest arbitration would serve paramedics well. We would have meaningful negotiations between the parties, with no disruption to ambulance services. The alternative is a meaningless right to strike. Some municipalities want paramedics to agree to essential services before any strike or lockout occurs. This means most of us would have to stay on the job during a strike. We would have less bargaining power than any other group. But not if we get the right to arbitrate. As well, this would lead to a separate bargaining unit for paramedics in municipal ambulance services. Currently, paramedics bargain alongside hundreds or thousands of municipal employees. Seven hundred Toronto paramedics are in a bargaining unit of 7,000 city workers. Durham and York Regions will take over ambulance services next year. In Durham, 150 paramedics will be in a bargaining unit of 900 municipal employees. In York, the ratio will be 150 paramedics to 1,600 municipal workers. In an all-employees bargaining unit, our issues will be diluted and traded off in the bargaining process. Contract disputes could be settled by strikes or lockouts. Toronto paramedics have raised these concerns for some time now. The solution is for the right to arbitrate in a separate bargaining unit. OPSEU’s Central Ambulance Bargaining Team and President Leah Casselman have each written to provincial cabinet ministers, calling for the right to arbitrate for all ambulance paramedics. To date, we have not received a response from the Harris government. OPSEU paramedics should raise this issue with their MPP and municipal councillors. The right to arbitrate is in everyone’s best interest: the paramedics, their employers and the public. Through bargaining and lobbying, OPSEU is fighting for your job and bargaining rights.
OPSEU
wins wage parity OPSEU paramedics at Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital successfully negotiated parity with the OPS wage rates in a recent contract settlement. In the early ‘90s, OPSEU won wage parity for paramedics at Barry’s Bay and Deep River Hospitals, Palmerston General Hospital and Alliston’s Stevenson Memorial Hospital. We have not always won as much as we would have liked. We won a five per cent increase at West Parry Sound instead of full parity. But we have shown our willingness to fight employers right through the arbitration process. With downloading, some hospitals will no longer run ambulance services. It is important that you know your rights, including: notice requirements for layoff and bumping of less senior employees. You may be eligible for severance pay. This is usually one week’s pay for each year of service. If severance isn’t included in your collective agreement, you may be eligible for severance under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), provided that your hospital has a payroll of at least $2.5 million per year, or lays off more than 50 people at once. When paramedics at Durham Hospital transferred to the OPS, OPSEU fought for four years to get them severance pay under the ESA. Lobby
for your job, We are all concerned that the quality of our ambulance services is maintained and improved after the downloading. The key to quality is the paramedics. Our job security is vital for our communities, as well as for our families. OPSEU needs your help lobbying the government. We recommend that all paramedics arrange meetings with their municipal councillors and MPPs to raise the following concerns: 1. Paramedics should get job offers from the ambulance service taking over the contract in their region.
2. Our service and seniority should be recognized by the new operator (whether that is a municipality, hospital, or owner/operator).
3. Paramedics need a separate bargaining unit and the right to arbitration.
4. Paramedics should be given the right to determine which union represents them.
‘Grandfathers’
will be able The Ministry of Health says grandfathered paramedics will be able to apply for jobs with the new operators in their region. Grandfathered paramedics are not compelled to get their EMCA if they worked prior to Aug. 1, 1975. Currently, "grandfathers" can only work if they stay with the same service. This is contained in a regulation under the Ambulance Act. The Ministry of Health says it will change the regulation so that "grandfathers" can apply for a job with the new operator(s) taking over the ambulance service in their work area. OPSEU invokes job registry As we go to print, four crown agent services (City, Seaforth-Clinton, Lambton-Middlesex and Thames Valley Ambulance) have issued notices of indefinite layoff to take effect Jan.1, 2000. These services are following the central ambulance collective agreement, which requires four months notice of layoff. Additional services are expected to issue layoff notices in the near future. OPSEU has written to the operators’ spokesman in central bargaining to invoke the job registry provision of the central agreement. Before any service can hire from the outside, it has to give good faith consideration to employees on the registry. The registry would apply province-wide. We hope the provincial government will legislate job offer guarantees, so the registry will not be necessary. To help us with our lobby for the job offers, meet with your MPP and your municipal councillors. All current paramedics should keep their jobs, whether the service is municipally-run or contracted out. (See page three for more details on lobbying.) Each air and land ambulance service and dispatch service is invited to send one delegate to the BPS and OPS Ambulance Divisional Meeting on Nov. 7. A notice has gone out to the highest ranking officers in the division, asking them to call a meeting in their service to elect one delegate. Attendance and advance forms should be completed and mailed by Sept. 24 to Tina Furman, Collective Bargaining Dept., OPSEU Head Office, 100 Lesmill Road, Toronto, ON, M3B 3P8. To find out the latest bargaining and lobbying news for OPSEU’s Ambulance Division, check out our web page. Please forward any questions or comments you have about the web page or Lights and Sirens to Megan Park at OPSEU Head Office: 1-800-268-7376 ext. 207 or e-mail: mpark@opseu.org.
Lights and Sirens is produced by the OPSEU Public Affairs Section, 100 Lesmill Rd., Toronto Original authorized by distribution by Leah Casselman, President |
