FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2002

Government must close “deadly” wage gap at provincial ambulance dispatch centres: OPSEU

TORONTO - The Ontario government must move quickly to close a “deadly” wage gap that is putting people’s lives at risk, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says.

“Dispatchers at provincially-run Central Ambulance Communication Centres are paid up to $20,000 a year less than their counterparts in similar jobs, even when those counterparts handle much lower call volumes under a lot less stress,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “Experienced people won’t stay where they’re not appreciated - especially not in a pressure-cooker job where one mistake can cost someone’s life.

“This government is dealing in death to cut costs,” said Casselman. “This has to stop now, before the next person dies.”

Casselman said the ambulance dispatch system operated by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has become the “farm team” for police and fire dispatch services.

“Basically, the Ministry develops the talent so another service can snap it up,” she said. “Public service dispatchers make $44,000 a year in an environment where they have so many emergencies they sometimes have to put 9-1-1 calls on hold. Who wouldn’t prefer to work for the Mississauga Fire Service for $68,000, with a safe number of calls?”

A recent consultant’s report paid for by the government said 4,200 calls per dispatcher per year was the maximum level for safe dispatch services. Yet call volumes in York Region and Simcoe County will still top 5,800 a year, even after new hires announced recently by Health Minister Tony Clement.

The OPSEU collective agreement in the Ontario Public Service contains a mechanism to adjust wages in occupations that are wrongly paid for their classification, but Management Board Chair David Tsubouchi has so far declined to use it to solve the dispatch issue.

Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton called on Premier Ernie Eves to make his Ministers solve the problem immediately. “If lives are at risk because David Tsubouchi and Tony Clement have their wires crossed, it’s time for Ernie Eves to step in and get them working together,” he said.

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For more information:

Megan Park, OPSEU (416) 443-8888 ext. 207; (416) 579-5851
Gil Hardy, NDP (416) 325-7118