6 days ago
Quebec paramedics are on general unlimited strike
A paramedic loads his stretcher back into the ambulance after bringing a patient to the emergency room at a hospital in Montreal, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
Some 3,300 paramedics under CSN unions have gone on general unlimited strike as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
They have been without a collective agreement since April 2023 and the unions say the Treasury Board is dragging its feet in negotiations.
The consequences of the strike will have little impact on the population as essential services are being maintained under perimeters set by the Administrative Labour Tribunal on Friday.
It will mainly include administrative pressure tactics. Paramedics will also go on a rotating strike with management staff replacing them.
Thirty-five notices of indefinite strike action have been issued in several cities across Quebec by unions affiliated with the CSN's Health and Social Services Federation.
'The CAQ government tells us that it thinks there are too many strikes in Quebec, but ... it refuses to put serious proposals on the table until it feels the heat of mobilization,' said CSN First Vice-President François Enault in a statement.
'We intend to use all means necessary to ensure that Quebec paramedics obtain working conditions that reflect the full value of their contribution to our society,' Enault continued.
Salaries are among the main issues in dispute, but so are 'respect for work schedules, in order to combat the explosion of overtime' and improvements to the pension plan. The unions say those must reflect 'the reality of this demanding profession, both physically and mentally.'
They say the government's current demands would result in a decrease in paramedics' income.
'The government knows full well that paramedics will never accept a pay cut,' said FSSS-CSN Vice-President Lucie Longchamp. 'How is it that, two years after the agreements expired, it is still unable to offer the same salary increases at the negotiating table that it negotiated with all its other employee groups?'
The strike particularly affects Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Greater Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Mauricie, the greater Quebec City area (including Charlevoix), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, North Shore, and Lower St. Lawrence.
Nine days of negotiations with the employer are scheduled for July.
With files from The Canadian Press
