THUNDER BAY – Paramedics working in outlying Thunder Bay District communities have secured a new collective bargaining agreement with Superior North EMS.
The deal offers a compensation increase of 8.5 per cent over four years, equal to the hike negotiated earlier this year by paramedics working inside the city of Thunder Bay, who are represented by a separate Unifor bargaining group.
It also expands benefits, importantly including for mental health, said Angie Martz, financial secretary with Unifor Local 229.
The deal was approved by Thunder Bay's city council on Monday evening.
It had previously been ratified by the paramedics, though Martz declined to discuss what level of support the deal received from the bargaining unit's roughly 100 members.
Despite clear positives in the new agreement, there remain major challenges for paramedics working across the huge region, she said.
That includes a work schedule that often requires them to be on call for 12 hours adjacent to their regular 12-hour shifts on the job, she said.
The on-call rate will rise from $3.90 an hour to $4.05 an hour under the new deal.
There are also concerns about a new master plan for Superior North EMS that recommends closing several bases across the district, said Martz.
Leaders from municipalities and First Nations across the district have slammed the plan over that possibility.
Resources are stretched thin across the region, Martz said.
"For the district, there continue to be huge staffing concerns," she said. "We're really shorthanded for paramedics."
