2023-04-24 18:17:19
(Montreal) The strike affecting various ambulance companies in several regions of Quebec will start again overnight from Monday to Tuesday, after a break of a few days to discuss the essential services to be maintained in this new phase.
The Administrative Labor Tribunal once again ruled on these essential services, as 38 unions in different municipalities announced a “new” strike starting April 25 at 12:01 a.m.
Among the cities affected are Lévis, Lac-Mégantic, Berthierville, Rimouski, Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse, Joliette, Rawdon and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
Two groups of independent unions are concerned – the Federation of Pre-Hospital Employees of Quebec and Syndicated Ambulance Workers of Beauce inc. – and several employers, namely cooperatives and ambulance companies.
In fact, this strike by paramedics has been going on for several months already, but it seems little to the public, because of the extent of the essential services that must be maintained.
“Most of the tasks are considered essential,” recalled the Administrative Labor Tribunal in its decision. For example, all priority 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 calls “will be handled as usual.”
As for priority 8 calls, they must be handled between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m., “including returns home, those in private seniors’ residences, intermediate resources and homes for the elderly, with the exception transportation of users in palliative care and those assigned to the aeromedical service, whose services will be maintained at all times”.
The last decision of the Tribunal, for the purposes of this new phase of the strike, concerns the internships to be supervised. For example, the Tribunal ruled that paramedic ambulance technicians “will not supervise trainees or observation internships, with the exception of the supervision of the final DEC internships (approximately 300 hours) already started and ending around the mid-May” and those of the Workplace Professional Integration Program.
Among the means of pressure that these paramedics can exert, we note the exterior washing of the ambulance vehicle, except for the revolving lights, the indicators, the reflective strips and the windows.
Similarly, during inter-hospital transport, for example, the return of medical escorts will not be guaranteed, unless a patient is on board the ambulance vehicle, noted the Tribunal.
Paramedics who are members of unions affiliated with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, affiliated with the CSN, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, indicated that they had already concluded the renewal of their collective agreement.
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