Paramedics met with MLA Bob Simpson Friday about the government’s recent order to end the seven-month strike by enforcing a contract through Bill 21.

Simpson, NDP MLA for Cariboo North, met with Richard Vollo, regional vice president for the Ambulance Paramedics of BC Cupe 383, full-time paramedic Ron Ferguson and part-time paramedic Megan Thompson Friday afternoon to debrief them on what was done in the legislature.

Health Minister Kevin Falcon introduced Bill 21 Nov. 2, saying the situation has become urgent with the onset of H1N1 pandemic influenza and a paramedic management team that is exhausted from covering expensive absences by staff and on-call paramedics during the dispute. The one-year deal imposed by the province is retroactive to April 1 and includes a three per cent wage increase.

“In a democratic state you better use the hammer of legislation like this very, very carefully,” Simpson says. “In this case, we don’t believe there’s any justification for this.”

Vollo says the union wants collective bargaining to begin on the new contract as early as possible — Dec. 10 — and there can be no strike action until the imposed contract expires March 31, 2010.

“They (the government) have an opportunity to sit down and honestly and sincerely and with a mandate negotiate with B.C.’s paramedics for a fair, equitable collective agreement that serves British Columbians as well as paramedics,” Vollo says, adding that not doing so would not be in the best interest of VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games), the International Olympic Committee, or British Columbians.

“If anything is going to be a motivator to this particular government, it’s going to be the Winter Olympics,” he says, explaining that under the new contract, paramedics no longer have to make themselves available for overtime hours, which could impact the Olympics.

He says during the strike and prior to Bill 21, paramedics provided full service, as they were required to do under the essential service order (ESO) which meant paramedics had to, by law, provide their historical overtime availability.

Bill 21 now makes overtime optional, which Vollo says may impact the Olympics.

Liberal Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says despite the ESO, BC Ambulance experienced significant staff shortages since job action in April 2009, and noted that the union had also directed paramedics not to work during certain events in the summer.

She says the government never took the issue to court, taking the stance that it hoped everyone would come back to the table.

“It didn’t happen and that’s why the bill was passed,” she says. “This is about lives. This is about paramedics’ lives. Withdrawing services and not working overtime is creating a huge impact on paramedics.”

Simpson adds the new contract “boils down to a VANOC-wanted contract,” since the new contract expires weeks past the Olympics. He believes that the government may have forced the strike to end so paramedics could no longer wear their “on strike” shirts and so a labour dispute wouldn’t be visible to investors and the world.

“It could be as crass as that, that it’s an optics issue,” Simpson says.

Vollo adds that paramedics may instead start wearing “unstrike” shirts.

“Certainly no British Columbians should be fearful of not getting an ambulance when they call for one,” Vollo notes. “Our fight has never been with our patients and never will be...essentially, this strike will be over when the paramedics say it’s over.”

Barnett, who voted in favour of the bill, says the enforced contract was for the safety of British Columbians, including the paramedics.

“This is not about the Olympics,” she says.

Vollo says paramedics want to achieve wage parity with other emergency service over a period of time.

“It could be 10 years for all I know,” he says.

“What we’re asking for is a staged plan to attempt to achieve parity with other emergency services.”

Vollo met with Barnett last week about the issues and says she is “not really conversant with the file.”

In his opinion, Barnett hasn’t done her homework and doesn’t understand the issues facing paramedics and British Columbians.

Ferguson says the system has been degrading for the last 10 years and hasn’t seen much recruitment or retention, but part-time paramedics have been putting in 100 per cent availabilty for the best patient care for British Columbians to make sure an ambulance is there when needed.

He adds that part-timers who aren’t working get paid $2 an hour to carry a pager. He says Falcon has justified that by saying part-timers used to not get paid at all.

“That’s another slap in the face,” Ferguson says. “And without respect and dignity, this is just another job.”

Simpson notes that people weren’t previously paid to carry a pager because they were volunteers.

The government, he says, also centralized health care and didn’t ramp up the ambulance service to make its health-care delivery model work.