The union representing ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in B.C. says contract negotiations with the province government have broken down, raising the possibility of job action in the months ahead.
Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia (APBC) CUPE 873 says talks have been ongoing since September, but stalled before Christmas, prompting the union to begin consulting its members about next steps, including a potential strike. The union represents thousands of paramedics and dispatchers across the province.
In an interview with CHEK News, APBC communications director Ian Tait said the breakdown has been building for weeks.
"Unfortunately, we've noticed a real breakdown at the bargaining table with the government over the last couple of weeks," said Tait. "What started kind of mid-November...has been really unfortunate when we look at the ongoing issues in the health-care system and how the paramedics have just been stepping up, time and time again across this province, with ER closures, with staffing issues."
Tait said the union's demands go beyond wages and include staffing levels, deployment models and mental-health supports.
"We don't just come to the table with wages and benefit demands," he said. "We bring a whole host of issues to the table about deployment and staffing and better health-care options in communities."
He added the union believes paramedics have been offered less than other public-sector workers in recent settlements. "We just don't think that that's fair at this point," he said.
The union says chronic staffing shortages, vacant ambulance shifts and increasing reliance on overtime are putting added pressure on workers, especially as paramedics are often called on to fill gaps when emergency departments or hospitals close.
"We have hundreds of empty positions right now, and it's not for a lack of trying," said Tait. "But at the end of the day, we're not recruiting enough members to make up for the retirees or people that are leaving, or just the new full-time positions that we've increased."
APBC says it is now asking for mediation and plans to hold online information sessions and a province-wide in-person tour in January to ask members if they want to seek a strike mandate.
Tait stressed that any job action would be contrained by the province's essential service requirements.
"The idea of walking off the job is not on the table for us. So our position is, is that when you call 911, we want to be there," he said.
"So job, walk offs, escalation, those types of things. There are mechanisms that we can use. But the idea of not staffing ambulances as part of a job action isn't necessarily on the table for us right now. That's not what we want. That's not what we're planning for."
Escalation could include picket lines, reduced administration or billing service, or limiting overtime, he added.
The union says it wants negotiations to resume as soon as possible.
CHEK News reached out to the B.C. Ministry of Health for a comment and was redirected to the Health Employers Associaiton of BC, which is leading the negotiations with the union. CHEK had not received a response by publication time.