Health Minister Sonia Bélanger says she does not want to interfere in negotiations between ambulance companies and unions representing paramedics, a day after a tribunal decision that highlighted the lengthy duration of strikes each time collective agreements expire.
Earlier this week, ambulance companies failed in their attempt to have paramedics’ supervision of training placements recognized as an essential service during the current strikes. The Tribunal administratif du travail rejected the employers’ request.
In its decision, the tribunal pointed to what it described as the “duration of the strikes that occur each time a collective agreement expires.” It added that these “ineffective and therefore interminable strikes are likely to weigh on labour relations within ambulance companies and do not favour the attraction or retention of paramedics.”
Asked about the issue Friday during a news conference on another topic in Beloeil, Bélanger acknowledged the negotiations have been long, but declined to intervene.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
