Union representatives at the bargaining table for 800 paramedics have received offers that include significant rollbacks to working conditions for the members of FTPQ-CUPE 7300. Representatives of the Quebec government and private employers tabled proposals that include reclassifying workers in lower-paid positions, and a review of the application criteria for the out-of-zone meal allowance to limit its scope.
The proposed wage increases are only 8.4% over four years. This would put paramedics’ wages well below those granted to Quebec public sector workers for 2023–2028, even factoring in parity increases of 6% for 2023 that paramedics obtained last December, under a pay parity clause.
FTPQ-CUPE believes these offers would create staff shortages, like the worst experienced during the pandemic, when wait times regularly put people at risk.
“The employer representatives have taken surreal, contradictory positions,” says FTPQ-CUPE 7300 President Sébastien Gourre. “On the one hand, we were told the aim is to attract and retain staff, because that’s crucial to people’s health and safety. On the other hand, we were presented with proposals that would significantly reduce paramedics’ working conditions and purchasing power. This will recreate the big problems we saw a few years ago.”
“The public also needs to know our employers are increasingly using private agencies to fill paramedic shifts. It’s the same terrible practice that’s eroding the health and social services network, costing taxpayers far more for lower quality service,” adds Gourre. “The employer’s offer creates the risk of even more agency use, speeding up a downward spiral. Unfortunately, all this points to long and difficult negotiations.”
The paramedics’ collective agreement expired on March 31, 2024.