Understaffing at issue: union

Waterloo Region’s paramedics vote for strike action

WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Region’s paramedics are pushing for more resources to address what the union calls chronic understaffing that’s threatening public safety.

“This is putting the paramedics at risk. It’s putting the residents of the Region of Waterloo at risk. It’s not a healthy situation,” said Chris Sutton, CUPE national representative.

CUPE Local 5191, which represents more than 220 paramedics locally, and Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services, are currently negotiating a new contract.

On Friday, almost all members — 98 per cent — voted in favour of strike action if an agreement cannot be reached.

“They are sick and tired of it,” Sutton said. “They can’t take it anymore.”

The big issue is understaffing, leading to longer shifts and missed breaks. Sutton said the paramedics’ 12-hour shifts can stretch into 16 hours and they’re missing meal breaks.

The strain is leading to exhaustion, stress and more injuries, Sutton said.

“The service is over stressed and the workers are carrying it on their shoulders.”

The number of “Code Red” periods, when there are no ambulances available, is on the rise as Sutton said the increasing demand for paramedic services is not being met with increasing capacity in terms of added vehicles and staff.

“In fact, they’ve been running lean for quite some time,” Sutton said.

Last fall, regional council endorsed an ambulance master plan that called for 20 additional paramedics and seven support staff, half of the cost covered by the province. Councillors were told then that ambulance calls had increased by 50 per cent in the past decade to about 45,000 in 2015 and response time had reached about 10 minutes, compared to 9½ minutes in 2013.

The plan was scaled back to 15 paramedics and seven support staff even before budget debates began, and approved in January as part of final budget approvals.

“The bottom line is the region needs to step up,” Sutton said.

Sutton said the union offered solutions to some problems, although he wouldn’t elaborate on the specifics, but that will only offer a reprieve from the situation.

“The bottom line is if you don’t have enough bodies, you don’t have enough bodies,” he said.

Paramedics are considered an essential service under provincial law and their ability to strike is “limited,” Sutton said.

Both sides are set to meet for negotiations on Thursday. No deadline has been set for a legal strike or lockout position.

Emergency services chief Stephen Van Valkenburg said in an email that the region will continue to work with the union local “toward a responsible collective agreement that meets both the needs of our paramedics and the needs of our community.”

He said operational and staffing issues are being addressed in the council-approved master plan, and other matters are being addressed at the negotiating table.

“The region remains optimistic that we can address a number of the priorities raised by the union on behalf of its members, and that we can reach a negotiated settlement,” Van Valkenburg wrote in the media statement.