Macbraughton

I’m a little irritated right now. Nothing unusual for me, certainly, but this time I know I’m not alone. There are a lot of people in this city irritated right now and a lot more who may be as this week gets going because City of Toronto workers are getting ready to go on strike tonight at midnight.

One of the main issues: sick time. The corporation that runs this town says that it shells out too much cash paying workers when they are sick and don’t come to work. They want to save money by lowering the number of sick days that people are allotted for the year and not allow them to accumulate what is called a “sick bank” of days that add up over a persons career when they don’t use them.

One of the things that I’m probably most annoyed with is that other unionized city employees have already made their deals without any concessions. I’m talking about the TTC, Toronto Police Service, and Toronto Fire Services to name the most visible. The City of Toronto employees that will be striking this week are Local 79 and Local 416 workers, which represent “inside workers” and “outside workers” respectively, that is, all of the rest of the city’s employees who don’t have their own special union.

While everybody on the radio and television is talking about the garbage piling up, and the Pride parade possibly being canceled, these red herrings only keep the public from noticing one very important point: Toronto Emergency Medical Services are part of Local 416 and Local 79.

What this means to you is that come tomorrow morning, if grandpa has a heart attack, there will be less ambulance dispatchers available to answer the phone when you call 911, and less ambulances on the road with paramedics to give grandpa life saving drugs and take him to the nearest hospital. Yes, you can rest assured that we will have public transportation, law and order, and property protection if there is a fire, but for some reason human life isn’t at the top of the priority list for the City of Toronto corporation.

With the possibility of only 75% of the paramedics and dispatchers who work for Toronto EMS coming to work tomorrow, despite what disinformation the City of Toronto corporation feels like spreading, I can tell you that there will be delays in 911 calls being answered and dispatched, as well as paramedics arriving to the scene of calls and transporting patients to hospitals.

In the event of a labour disruption, emergency calls for ambulance/paramedic services will continue as usual. Non-emergency and low priority calls may be affected.
~City of Toronto – Labour Relations

Part of the problem is that Toronto Emergency Medical Services should either have its own union or bargaining unit, or it should at least be designated an essential service so that public health is not put in jeopardy just because the City of Toronto is trying to save a few bucks.

I can’t speak for other Local 416 or Local 79 employees because I don’t know what it is like for them.  I can only speak for myself, and my wife (who is a paramedic), and the people I know who every time they go to work they put themselves in the center of the some of the most difficult and traumatic experiences that our community faces each and every day. 

I know that paramedics come into contact with the sickest people in this city, and also have a very physical job that involves a lot of lifting (for instance, moving an unconscious person is probably a lot harder than you would think).  Emergency Medical Dispatchers (the group that I belong to) deal with the constant stress and anxiety of family members calling 911 for sick loved ones, as well as the distressed patients themselves whether they be trauma victims or suffering from acute or chronic medical conditions.

As a group, we deal with human frailty each and every day, 24 hours a day seven days a week, yet, by threatening to take away paid sick time, we are not even afforded the respect of being acknowledged as frail human beings ourselves.

Wake up, Toronto! The people who answer the phone when you call 911 and come and take care of you and your family and friends through difficult and traumatic times are just people, just like you. There is a cost for putting one’s self out there to help people in distress, and again, I can only speak for Toronto EMS employees, unfortunately there are a lot of people in our line of work who deal with their own medical conditions, sickness, and injuries.

Citizens of Toronto, this is your city. It does not belong to the corporation who is elected and appointed to serve you, its citizens. Please pass along your voice of support for Toronto EMS to your local city councilor and to David Miller’s office in support of the people who are always there when you need them, who need your help right now. Remind them who they work for – You! It is neither fair nor equitable for them to put public health at risk because of their political maneuvering. Show them that you care about more than whether your garbage gets picked up next week.

Just to be clear, those of us who work for Toronto EMS and are manning the phones and ambulances during this strike will do our best to serve you, the citizens of Toronto. Just be advised, there will be less of us there to carry the load. At only 75% of normal staffing, this will definitely affect our response times.

Also, on a personal level, I want to say that I live with my family in Toronto, so as fellow residents this affects us too. This goes beyond my employment, I don’t appreciate the City of Toronto corporation thinking that it is okay to keep Emergency Medical Services staffed at less than 100% of normal operational levels. That is why I am posting this right now. At this time we still don’t know if the strike will happen or not.

Thank you for your support and comments are welcome.