OPSEU paramedics appeal to Ontario labour ministry for intervention on safety grounds.
Orillia (4 Feb. 2009) - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) will appeal to the provincial labour ministry following the County of Simcoe's decision to reject a call for snow tires on its ambulances.
OPSEU Local 303 formally requested snow tires last September and waited patiently for an answer only to find out recently that the municipality has turned its paramedics down.
"We're just (officially) finding out now that ... there's no room in the budget," Jason Brearley, a member of the local's health and safety committee, told the Orillia Packet and Times.
The committee includes three members from management and three from the union. The request was the second the committee has made.
County ambulances travel more than 2.6 million kilometres annually. The municipality uses all-season, all-terrain tires and says it is happy them. It is not convinced snow tires would be an improvement. The county has about three dozen ambulances and 250 paramedics.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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