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 rallied 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 held an information
picket in front of the OMERS Sponsors
Corporation offices, where Corporation
directors were to meet.
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.”
Paramedics from OPSEU,
CUPE, SEIU and CAW joined the rally.
