Nanaimo paramedics are disappointed the B.C. government has legislated an end to the strike and say the government’s reason of managing H1N1 is just a smokescreen to cover the real reason – the approaching 2010 Olympics.

Mike Egli, a Nanaimo paramedic, was on an information picket in Whistler Monday when he heard the news about the legislation.

“I felt like I was kicked in the stomach and was shocked that this was going to happen,” he said.

John Hosie, a Nanaimo paramedic and regional vice president of the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. CUPE local 873, said the government is using the H1N1 as an excuse.

“This is all about the Olympics. It has nothing to do with H1N1 or the state of health care,” said Hosie.

Egli said there are already measures in place to address emergency health situations like an H1N1 pandemic outbreak. In such a situation, paramedics can be called to work and have to respond, but must be paid overtime, he said.

B.C. paramedics went on strike April 1 over lack of wage parity with other emergency responders, recruitment and retention issues, staffing levels and on-call pay.

The paramedics were days away from voting on a contract proposal when the government introduced the legislation.

Hosie said it is odd timing and the government should have waited on the results of the vote before making such a decision.

Paramedics are working under an essential services order to provide patient care.

Those services were called into question Monday when Health Minister Kevin Falcon said despite the order the strike was affecting patient care – a statement Hosie says is false.

“There is not one instance where strike action has impacted patient care,” said Hosie. “We’re front-line patient advocates. It’s ethically our moral responsibility to look after these patients.”

Hosie said the legislation doesn’t bode well for the landscape of collective bargaining throughout the province and the issues around recruitment and retention will linger.

reporter3@nanaimobulletin.com