ST. JOHN’S, NF - The Canadian Union of Public Employee (CUPE) has been certified as the bargaining agent for the employees of Ferryland Emergency Services Ltd. The bargaining unit will be comprised of all Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) and Primary Care Paramedics (PCP) working with the company.
CUPE National Representative Brian Farewell said, “We are extremely pleased that these workers have chosen CUPE as their union and look forward to meeting with the employer to negotiate our first collective agreement.
“While this is the first private ambulance operator group to be organized by CUPE in this province,” said Farewell. “Our national union has been very active in this sector across the country and of course we currently represent many public ambulance drivers within the health care boards. This will be an asset in our upcoming bargaining.”
CUPE NL president Wayne Lucas said, “Our union is very pleased to welcome these workers into the CUPE fold, and we’re optimistic that organizing this first group may be the incentive for other groups to follow suit.
“It’s our experience that workers who approach unions to be organized are undergoing some type of problem in their workplace. If there are other groups of workers in the private ambulance sector who feel we can be of assistance, then we would like nothing more than to welcome them into the largest emergency services workers’ union in the country.
“We have the experience and the expertise to help them establish decent wages and working conditions in their sector,” Lucas said.
For more information, contact:
Brian Farewell
CUPE National Representative
(709)753-0732
John McCracken
CUPE Communications
(902) 455-4180