^ :rolleyes:

I'm with the paramedics on this one.

They deserve the pay, it sure as hell isn't an easy job.

Besides if you are against them taking this tactic, than complain to your damn government and get them to put a good deal on the table.

I'm sick of this stupid government we have in place.

exactly. so whats a raise if it'll get these ppl to go back to saving lives?

i'd hate to see somebody die because the gov't was too jewbag to give these paramedics what they deserve

Ugh, no.

Let's say that this "tactic" worked. And the paramedics got a raise. What happens if say the firefighters have to go on strike and they pull the same stunt? Hey, lets like fires be fires and burn and see those "jewbag" government officials make the next move.

This is retarded. If you seriously think that this is a way to go about protesting, you need to re-access your life.

I would hate to see somebody die because some paramedic thinks they deserve more money rather than saving someone's life. This was something the paramedics chose to do.

Police and Firefighters (who are also part of Essential Services) got hefty raises a long while ago. Paramedics didn't. They are only asking to be on par with those other services because they, too, are exposed to risks DAILY.

And BC is one of the lowest-paid regions for Paramedics in NORTH AMERICA.


PS - I don't see a big hissy fit when teachers walk off the job! And hey, they've done that TONS of times.

There WAS a big hissy fit when the Teachers "illegally" walked off the job. Mostly because people were inconvenienced by having to find someone else to babysit their kids. Hard to believe teaching is an essential service, but that's a topic for another thread.

lil kids arent going to die cuz their teachers arent teaching them what 3 divided by 5 is

So how many people gave the paramedics' cause a second thought when they were legally on strike?

Hardly anyone. No one cared. Why? Because they still had to work. No one was really inconvenienced. Completely ineffective.

So what can they do to get Effective positive attention now? Something that will get the public to rally around them demanding the government give them what they deserve? Something that won't get the bitches screaming "SOMEONE MIGHT DIE! SOMEONE MIGHT DIE!"

Nothing.

Ok, I am a paramedic working in the interior at a "fox" station. I have 4 years in with no benifits (you don't get them until you can go full time and with that you HAVE to pack up and move to vancouver) or until after 7 years. Health care worker with no health benifits? I work over 40 hours a week at the station and am on par to make maybe $36,000 this year... I still have not paid off my student loans from 3-4 years ago because I don't make enough. In fact I have gone farther into debt because I want to help people.

I don't have the time to write out everything that we're working for or what is going on but you can ask me any questions you want and I'll answer them.

As for the ambulances in Vancouver that went down.. that was not the union.. at least 1/3 of that were regular bookoffs due to sickness/injury.. 1/3 of that was them not being able to fill the overtime shifts they normally fill because for once in this career we're saying we actually want a life and it's hard to help out the company by filling shifts for them after they proceeded to fuck us.. and the other 1/3 well that could of been an effort between some dumb ass union rebelling paramedics I don't know because I don't work down there.. But the union did proceed to send a threatening email after that saying no more.
It's funny how much the media is controlled by the gov. and of course they want to make us look bad rather then it be on themselves. But "50 paramedics calling in sick right before their shifts as a union effort" is complete BS.

Questions?

maybe CRS knows? he seems to be following up on this topic really well...

Wait, he hasn't given a single suggestion!

haha wow

I dont think anyone here is questioning the fact that Paramedics need to get more for what they do, in terms of pay and benefits. Im pretty sure everyone here supports that effort.

What people are at issue with is this tactic of a coordinated walking-off the job, veiled as "oh we're just taking time off thats due to us.. there's no coordination by the union or anything of that nature". thats just bs not to mention a despicable tactic to take.

^ Daffy Duck in the house.

That's Dessssssthhhhpicable!

Hahaha

Once again, not the union, some employees that decided to take actions into their own hands. And also once again that was not even half the book offs. It's funny how BCAS now dropped all the charges against the union and employees because the Labour Board came into some very incriminating evidence about this "shortage" on BCAS's part.

Okay, seriously... CRS, stop. Just stop. Step back, take a deep breath and think about what it'd be like to walk a mile in their shoes for a month, a week, even a day. I have/had friends and family members work as paramedics and the one thing they all agreed upon was that their line of work was horrendously stressful, partially due to the hours that were more or less forced on them, and partially due to the emotional stress that's part and parcel with the job.

A cousin of mine was a paramedic for fifteen years before he quit. The ultimate reason came down to the fact that the amount of physical and emotional stress that comes with typically being one of the first people onto a scene doesn't correspond with the wages that he made. Yes, he knew what he was getting into when he signed up for the job, but that frankly "knowing" and actually experiencing it are two completely different things. Because of where he was based, he was almost always the first responder to a traffic accident or homicide or any other sort of incident that required his presence. There's a lot that he refuses to talk about, but I do know that much of what he had seen put a huge emotional toll on him. And because he was basically forced into overtime, his family life suffered horribly as a result.

A buddy of mine is a Whistler S&R leader. He enjoys helping and saving people. He's experienced with human trauma, death, life threatening injuries, etc, so he figured he'd be perfect to become a paramedic. Well, he did his schooling and applied for a job, only to find out that he would have absolutely zero health benefits for a few years, he'd basically be on call for 80 hours a week with no guarantee for actual work outside of the pager call wage, and wouldn't be able to pay off his student loans for at least five years. Needless to say he's now back in school to become a triage nurse.

CRS, you say that these paramedics are putting people's lives at risk by refusing to work? The majority of those people are simply refusing to work overtime hours. Why? Because they want an actual life. The government feels it's cheaper to force someone to work a shit load of overtime and risk them burning out instead of hiring more employees to help unload the stress from existing members. Where's the logic in that? The paramedics have been on strike, but were working. Something about only refusing to do all of their paperwork while on strike. But I don't think anyone really noticed or cared about it. It's only now that they're actually threatening to do something that people are knee jerking their responses.

How do you expect people to act when every time they do something that's still in the best interests of everyone involved, they get ignored? There comes a breaking point where you need to do something a little more drastic.

in my own head, what made me side with the paramedics was this fact here:

We know walking off has a chance at costing a life, but i thought in their shoes, counting everything, financials, family, everything. What the hell was their living standards to their lives, they are here to help save lives, but what about their own. How many divorces, lost time with their children's soccer game or even just random day out to the shopping mall with the kids has these men and women lost?

Has the people that felt so passionate about that it was "WRONG". But if you work a gazillion hours a week, not get paid enough, and still have to help out in the family, is it worth it?

Thats why i side with the paramedics, they god damn deserve to get what they want in wages, hours and benefits.

rofl that actually came to mind when i typed it ;)





and i think you guys backing them taking time off might be missing something...

its not that they're taking time off that is the issue....if they typically took their time-off that was due to them no one would care; its the fact that they decided to do it at the same time with the purpose of fucking shit up, a coordinated effort to throw things in disarray...

I'm not saying that they don't have fucked up conditions. I'll all for giving them a raise but the fact of the matter is that some would decided to walk off the job in a co-ordinated manner.

I'm simply saying if they did choose to walk off, that is fucked up.

I feel for their cause but not at risk for lives lost in the public.