Quebec paramedics on strike with essential services maintained in the province

Some 3,300 paramedics who are members of CSN unions have been on strike since midnight on Sunday. They have been without a collective agreement since April 2023 and hope to “put pressure on the Treasury Board (…) to reach a collective agreement settlement,” stated a press release issued Sunday morning.

The consequences of this strike will be minimally felt by the public due to the essential services maintained.

The Tribunal administratif du travail ruled on the essential services that CSN paramedics must provide on Friday. It ruled that priority 0 to 7 calls must be handled as usual. Priority 8 calls will be handled as usual, except for home visits, which will only be handled between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. during the strike.

Thirty-five notices of indefinite strikes have been issued in several Quebec cities by unions of the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, affiliated with the CSN.

The strike will largely take the form of administrative pressure tactics, such as forms submitted to the employer.

Paramedics will also be on a rotating strike, replaced at their posts by management staff.

“The CAQ government tells us it thinks there are too many strikes in Quebec, but it’s dragging its feet in negotiations,” said CSN First Vice-President François Enault.

“They refuse to put serious proposals on the table until they feel the breath of the mobilization down their necks. We intend to deploy all necessary means to ensure that Quebec paramedics obtain working conditions that fully reflect the value of their contribution to our society,” Mr. Enault stated in a press release.

Wage issues are among the main issues in dispute, along with “respect for working hours to combat the boom in overtime, and improvements to the pension plan.”

“The government knows full well that paramedics will never accept a pay cut,” stated FSSS-CSN Vice-President Lucie Longchamp.

“How is it that, two years after the agreements expired, they are still not able to bring to the bargaining table the same pay increases it negotiated with all its other employee groups?” Longchamp openly questioned.

The paramedics’ pressure tactics are particularly affecting the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Greater Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Mauricie, the Greater Quebec City region (including Charlevoix), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord, and Bas-Saint-Laurent.

Note that nine days of negotiations with the employer are scheduled for July.

– This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews