Although they are on strike, ambulance dispatchers in Nova Scotia have more people working than normal.
Members of CUPW local 015 went on strike July 17th to call for higher wages to help retain workers.
The essential services agreement says they must have 20 people working every day during the strike, but Jordan MacVay says there were only that many people on the job a few times last year.
“Like I said, it is a unique strike. It is the only strike I’ve seen that has resulted in more people working than usual,” says MacVay.
The dispatchers work for Emergency Medical Care, a company hired by the province.
When you call 911 and have a medical emergency, the call will get sent to the ambulance dispatchers, according to MacVay. They will talk people through CPR and the situation as another dispatcher coordinates to send an ambulance your way.
With the strike on, the union says management is covering on the weekends, because they have pulled dispatchers and put them on weekdays. They accused the company of preferring to pay them instead of settling a new deal with the union.
Now the union is calling on the provincial government to put pressure on the company to finalize a new deal.
Craig Power, also with the union, says this highlights that staffing has been bad for a while.
“The employer obviously doesn’t want to negotiate an agreement, they want it to go to binding arbitration,” says Power.
