Several ambulance employers in Quebec are appealing to the Administrative Labour Tribunal to force striking paramedics to agree to supervise trainees.
Paramedics belonging to three major union organizations in Quebec are refusing to supervise trainees, as a pressure tactic, during their strike with essential services.
These are those who are members of unions of the Federation of Health and Social Services, affiliated with the CSN, those who are members of the Fraternity of Prehospital Workers of Quebec and those who are members of the Unionized Ambulance Workers of Beauce.
The employers requesting the intervention of the tribunal are Urgences-santé, Dessercom, Paraxion, Demers, cooperatives in this sector and others.
In their requests, ambulance employers argue that there is already a staff shortage in this sector and a high rate of absenteeism.
However, of the 413 third-year students enrolled in pre-hospital emergency care, in 13 educational institutions in Quebec, only 61 found an internship.
Without internships, 352 aspiring paramedic ambulance technicians will not obtain their diploma at the end of the school year and will therefore be unable to enter the job market this summer, these employers argue.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
