Paramedics who are members of unions affiliated with the CSN will step up their pressure tactics. Starting next Tuesday, they will refuse to work overtime in certain regions of Quebec.
The affected regions will be the Southern Laurentians and Lanaudière, Greater Trois-Rivières, Portneuf, the National Capital Region, Charlevoix, as well as the Middle and Lower North Shore, the union specified.
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The Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN—to which these unions belong—intends to proceed in stages. This refusal to work overtime could therefore spread to other regions in the future.
It remains to be seen how the affected employers will react to this new form of pressure. The phenomenon of “TSO” (mandatory overtime) also exists among paramedics.
Similarly, employers had previously taken the matter to the Administrative Labor Tribunal when paramedics stopped supervising trainees as a means of applying pressure.
As an additional means of pressure, these CSN-affiliated paramedics will also refuse to work for private staffing agencies.
The Côte-Nord region, which is particularly hard-hit by a staffing shortage, is expected to be more severely affected, according to the FSSS.
These paramedics have already been on an indefinite strike for several months, but the strike has gone largely unnoticed by the public because most of their duties are considered essential services.
Intensive negotiations took place over four days in early June, with government representatives present, but they failed. The issue of compensation is at the heart of the dispute.
Their collective bargaining agreement expired on March 31, 2023—at the same time as those of employees in the public and parapublic sectors.
These paramedic unions are represented at Urgences-santé, which serves Montreal and Laval, as well as in several regional ambulance companies and cooperatives. However, other paramedics are members of different labor unions.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
