TORONTO, Ont. – Like police and firefighters,
paramedics provide a public service often under hazardous, high
stress conditions. However, they are not treated the same way
when it comes to pensions.
Citing issues of fairness and safety, paramedics
from across Ontario will gather in downtown Toronto on Thursday,
April 17 to call for the right to retire with full pension at
age 60. Because that requires changes to the Ontario Municipal
Employees Retirement System (OMERS) plan, the paramedics will
conduct an information picket in front of the OMERS Sponsors
Corporation offices, where Corporation directors will be
meeting.
The federal government designated paramedics as
a Public Safety Occupation in 2005 with police and firefighters.
Unlike those professions, however, paramedics do not have the
right to retire at age 60 with a full pension.
“The federal government has recognized that the
public safety nature of our work can take a toll on our health,
the same as police and firefighters,” says Jamie Ramage, chair
of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s (OPSEU)
Ambulance Executive, whose members are attending the union’s
annual convention in Toronto. “That’s why we are asking OMERS
Sponsor Corporation directors to support the changes to the plan
that would give us the right to negotiate retirement at 60 with
a full pension.”
“In many cases, the initial emergency care
provided by paramedics is the deciding factor between life and
death, temporary or permanent disability, a brief confinement or
prolonged hospitalization for a patient,” says Mike Dick,
Co-chair of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
Ontario’s Ambulance Committee. “Like police and firefighters, I
need to be able to make the choice whether to retire at 60 with
a full pension.”
WHAT: Information Picket by Ontario Paramedics
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 2008 TIME: 8:30 a.m.
PLACE: 1 University Avenue – Front Entrance
Eichenberger and Dick, part of a coalition of
paramedics that includes the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), will be on hand to
speak to members of the media and the public at the event.
