Talks break down over rural ambulance contract, as union warns of service impacts

Negotiations for a new contract have broken down,says the union representing employees of a private ambulance company in Newfoundland, with members to soon vote onjob action that could affect its services in the island's central and eastern regions.

About 250 paramedics, emergency medical responders and dispatchers withthe Fewer Group of Ambulances are without a contract, and have been so since March 31 or even earlier, according to the Teamsters Local 855.

Those people work forambulance services that cover a wide number of communities:Conception Bay South, Holyrood, Ferryland, Trepassey, Bell Island, Clarenville, much of the Bonavista Peninsula, Gambo, Boyd's Cove, Carmanville and Fogo Island.

The sticking point is money. The union said members get paid for less than 12 hours of their 24-hour shifts. Workers are also expected to volunteer time if calls come in as their shifts are ending, have no pensions, and on the whole make far less than their public sector counterparts, despite having the same training, said the union.

"The wage gap is unbelievable," said Hubert Dawe, a business agent for the Teamsters.

The workers unionized in 2018 and have received only a one per cent increase, in April, as directed by the ambulance service agreement, Dawe said. Trying to getthe company to the table has been tough, he said, and required a government-appointed mediator to even start talks.

"The operator is very resistant to the whole process," Dawe told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Showon Thursday. There is money within the system to meet the members' demands, he said.

"The plain and simple fact is it's profit. And Idon't fault any private company for looking for profit, but you have to take care of the people thatare earning that profit for you."

On May 28, they'll start votingon whether to start targeted job action. Ambulances would still respond to emergencies as usual, Dawe said, but routine transfers between hospitals or non-emergency appointments would be affected.

"It was quite a conundrum for a lot of people,and we still havea lot of people who are on the fence, who say it feels wrong, but on the other side they're standing up and saying, 'It's the only recourse that Ihave to try to make my life better,'" he said.

While neither the provincial government nor the health authorities are involved in the dispute, Dawe said he would welcome interventionin the form of mediation.

CBC News has asked Fewer, which isheadquartered in Clarenville, for comment.

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