CORNWALL, Ont. – Striking paramedics in Cornwall have been charged with trespassing for entering Cornwall City Hall and using the public facilities.
“What will they think of next?” asked CUPE spokesperson Bob Manny. “Our members did not enter their place of work, they were not rowdy, they did not enter any offices, nor did they disturb any workers.
“They put down their picket signs and went into City Hall to relieve themselves – now they’ve been charged with trespassing for entering a public building and using public facilities.”
CUPE Local 3251 – PARA are the paramedics who work in life and death situations and under tremendous stress. They work more than 40 hours a week, often in 12 hour shifts, and all they are asking is a fair wage settlement. The difference between what the City of Cornwall (representing cities Alexandria and Finch and counties Glengarry, Stormont and Dundas, had no power to assist with the negotiations) and what the life-saving paramedics want is a low 1.5 per cent. On Friday, February 23, the paramedics voted 97 per cent not to ratify the City of Cornwall’s final offer.
“First the City refuses to allow an arbitrator to be called in, then the mayor says publicly that he doesn’t want our members to earn the average provincial wage for paramedics, and now they are charging our members for using the public washrooms. I just don’t get why they are being so extremely difficult with us and, at the same time, putting the safety of residents in jeopardy,” he concluded.
For more information, please contact:
Bob Manny
CUPE National Representative
(613) 933-5515 (Office)
(613) 330-0443 (Cell)
Wendy Forbes
CUPE Communications
(416) 292-3999 Ext 249
(416) 892-8716