Member Update – Tentative Collective Agreement Reached
Member Update,
On behalf of your Negotiations Committee and Provincial Executive, I am pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative Collective Agreement.
Your APBC Negotiations Committee, CUPE Staff Representative, the PEC, our legal counsel, and mediator Vince Ready, worked late into the night on Friday to reach an agreement that will see an unprecedented investment into the ambulance service and our members.
I am proud to say that we have attained significant achievements in all our key areas and priorities including addressing the disparity in wages in comparison to other Paramedic services across Canada, a major investment into service delivery, our staffing model, recruitment and retention, as well as a host of other issues. We have worked with the government and employer to secure a new commitment to the issues that matter most to our members. We are confident this deal will establish a strong foundation for our members, patients, service delivery, and Paramedicine as a profession in BC that will finally put us on the path to a revival of the Ambulance Service and ensure patients receive the care they need and expect in their time of need.
Over the coming week, your Negotiations team and Provincial Executive will be compiling all relevant documents and finalizing the package in collaboration with the government’s representatives. During that time, we will be working on all logistics of the ratification tour and voting process, all of which will be communicated as soon as possible over the coming weeks.
I appreciate there will be a lot of excitement about the details of this agreement, however, as with standard practices, we will not be publicly releasing details of this tentative agreement at this time. All of the details will be disclosed in a comprehensive overview and in great detail to best inform our membership during the ratification process. We are excited to share all of the details of this agreement and look forward to questions from the membership.
If you have not registered on our new website at www.apbc.ca, now is unquestionably the time.
Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tireless work of the following people; Jason Jackson (our Lead Negotiator), Kelly Budway (Negotiation Committee Chair), Sherman Hillier (CUPE staff Representative), our entire Negotiating Committee, our Provincial Executive Committee, Mr. Vince Ready (Mediator) and all those behind the scenes who deserve credit. We also want to thank BCEHS’ Senior Leadership and members of the HEABC who have worked collaboratively to bring this tentative agreement to fruition.
On behalf of the Negotiations Committee and Provincial Executive board, thank you for your patience and understanding.
In Solidarity,
Troy Clifford
Provincial President
Ambulance Paramedics of BC
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