A Nakusp paramedic says it’s enough to make you want to quit altogether.

B.C. paramedics have been in a pinch since April this year when they went on strike.

The government responded earlier in the year by making the ambulance service an essential service, which made many paramedics work many extra hours of overtime, says Nakusp ambulance service paramedic Ron Scott. Then on Saturday the government legislated paramedics back to work.

The legislation, known as Bill 21, gives paramedics a three per cent pay raise, a raise which Scott says will not affect any of the eight paramedics currently in Nakusp.

“We were always going to do our job. Our job is to save people,” says Scott. “Even though there was an essential service order put in place, they basically made it illegal for us not to work overtime and made it illegal for us to not answer our telephones to accept shifts.”

The legislation is controversial. For one, B.C. paramedics of were in the process of voting on a previous proposal from the B.C. government when the newest mandate was put into place.

“Nobody here is happy with what’s going on,” says Scott. “I’ve heard concerns from people ... it’s a total lack of respect from our employer and the Liberal government.”

In Nakusp the eight paramedics all work part-time, carrying a pager with them wherever they go. Pager-pay only gives paramedics $2 an hour, and when times are slow, Scott says it’s easy to accumulate 150–200 hours in a pay period – a cheque which isn’t usually a large amount.

When they do get called out, they get a minimum four-hours pay. The call volume in Nakusp has also risen 30 per cent from 2006/07 to 2008/09. “It’s very sporadic. [It’s the] reason this industry is so difficult. Right now it’s really quiet – fortunately people aren’t getting hurt.”

Scott says that in larger centres paramedics can make anywhere from $60,000 to $70,000 a year. Scott himself had been away for the last few years working on the coast and in Kamloops where he was full-time and making good money. He came back to Nakusp for family reasons and planned on going back to a larger centre. Then the strike began, leaving him to work for a lesser wage. “Once they hire full-time, I’m going again. I can’t survive here. As soon as the next person ahead or behind me gets enough seniority, they’re going to leave too. This strike -- they keep telling us it’s about wages, but it’s not. It’s about lack of respect from our boss and the Liberal government. They’re just kicking us left and right.”

Scott brought up the issue of the government refusing to hire a third-party arbitrator to help in settling the strike. British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) communications manager Chris Harbord says the only reason BCAS can think that the paramedic’s union (CUPE 873) wanted a third-party arbitrator was because then they would expect a result in their favour – a wage increase which Harbord says the taxpayers cannot afford.

Harbord also says BCAS tabled many different proposals to CUPE 873 which included improved wages and benefits which specifically targeted rural and remote communities. He said these proposals were rejected by the union. “[The] government has committed to further examining the issues facing paramedics in rural and remote communities.”

The government said part of the reason for back-to-work legislation was a burden placed on the healthcare system due to the H1N1 virus outbreak.

For Scott, he feels very disrespected by both his employer and the government who have also stated paramedics will not be given priority in receiving the H1N1 vaccine.