Quebec paramedics are on general unlimited strike

More than 3,000 Quebec paramedics are on strike, as a collective agreement remains unsigned since 2023.

Some 3,300 paramedics under CSN unions have gone on general unlimited strike as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

They have been without a collective agreement since April 2023 and the unions say the Treasury Board is dragging its feet in negotiations.

The consequences of the strike will have little impact on the population as essential services are being maintained under perimeters set by the Administrative Labour Tribunal on Friday.

It will mainly include administrative pressure tactics, like refusing to fill out paperwork. Paramedics will also go on a rotating strike with management staff replacing them.

Charles Duff Murdoch, a paramedic and union representative, wants to reassure Quebecers that they won’t be left to their own device.

“Of course, obviously, being in essential service, we’re not just going to take our keys, drop them on the floor and say, figure it out there. You know that completely goes against what we stand for as paramedics ... every 911 call is going to be answered as usual,” he said.

Thirty-five notices of indefinite strike action have been issued in several cities across Quebec by unions affiliated with the CSN’s Health and Social Services Federation.

“The CAQ government tells us that it thinks there are too many strikes in Quebec, but ... it refuses to put serious proposals on the table until it feels the heat of mobilization,” said CSN First Vice-President François Enault in a statement. “We intend to use all means necessary to ensure that Quebec paramedics obtain working conditions that reflect the full value of their contribution to our society,” Enault continued.

Salaries are among the main issues in dispute, but so are “respect for work schedules, in order to combat the explosion of overtime” and improvements to the pension plan. The unions say those must reflect “the reality of this demanding profession, both physically and mentally.”

They say the government’s current demands would result in a decrease in paramedics’ income.

Murdoch said it’s the first time since the ‘80s that Quebec’s paramedics are offered a pay decrease, and paramedics feel disrespected.

“The days where you would just take up the patient and go as fast as you can to the hospital are long gone,” he said. “We’re actually going to want to stay in play. We’re going to stabilize the patient. We’re going to give them the emergency medication that they need and use a whole bunch of new equipment. We wanted the pay to reflect all these.”

A spokesperson for the Treasury Board declined to comment, saying “pressure tactics are the unions’ decision.”

The strike particularly affects Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Greater Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Mauricie, the greater Quebec City area (including Charlevoix), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, North Shore, and Lower St. Lawrence.

“The government knows full well that paramedics will never accept a pay cut,” said FSSS-CSN Vice-President Lucie Longchamp. “How is it that, two years after the agreements expired, it is still unable to offer the same salary increases at the negotiating table that it negotiated with all its other employee groups?”

Nine days of negotiations with the employer are scheduled for July.

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Olivia O’Malley