Without a collective agreement for two years, the approximately 250 emergency medical dispatchers (RMU) of the Federation of Prehospital Employees of Quebec (FPHQ) denounce the slowness of negotiations with the Quebec government. The union is demanding that the starting salary of its members increase from $22 an hour to nearly $27, in order to attract new employees and retain existing ones.
The RMUs respond to emergency calls from citizens and ensure the coordination of ambulance resources on their territory. Members of the FPHQ work in five health communication centers (commonly called CCS), which serve Outaouais, Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Montérégie, part of Estrie and Eastern Quebec.
“All our health communication centers are short of staff,” reports the president of the FPHQ, Daniel Chouinard. It is a very psychologically demanding job. People are still facing human catastrophe. »
FPHQ union members, whose collective agreement expired on March 31, 2022, have been on strike for more than a year. However, they are required to provide essential services. To indicate that they are in a labor dispute, for example, they begin their conversation with the paramedic technicians by mentioning “RMU on strike, listening” or “Central on strike, listening”.
According to the FPHQ, Quebec recently canceled two negotiation meetings scheduled for March 25 and 26. Another is due to take place this Wednesday. Daniel Chouinard describes the government as “nonchalant” in this matter. “We’re always waiting for our turn,” he says.
Quebec reached an agreement in February with the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN) and concluded an agreement in principle a month later with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ). This latest agreement will be submitted to a vote by some 80,000 members of the FIQ on April 10, 11 and 12. Remember that the Union of Urgences-santé Employees (FSSS-CSN), which represents RMUs and administrative staff, for its part concluded an agreement in principle with the government in May 2023.
Estelle Lafrance, president of the Brotherhood of Emergency Medical Dispatchers of the Health Alert Group, which is part of the FPHQ, is outraged by the state of the negotiations. “RMUs, who are always hidden behind their screens and phones, are easy to ignore,” she says. However, they have an “unbearable” work task, she maintains. “We urgently need a salary increase. When other emergency centers in the area are hiring at $35 an hour, no one can blame the candidates for not choosing us. »
In the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, the response was that “negotiations are underway” between the government and the FPHQ. “Discussions continue at the tables,” we add. We will not comment further. »