Posted on 10/20/2022 12:55:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Union says 82 paramedics were terminated for vaccination status, filed grievances on their behalf
Michael Dunbar has spent the past year working as a medic at an industrial site near Kamloops, B.C., standing by his decision that cost him his job at B.C. Ambulance Service.
He says he never disclosed his COVID-19 vaccination status to his employer, which led to his termination when immunization mandates went into effect for provincial health-care workers.
"It was pretty devastating to lose the opportunity," he told CBC News, noting it was a personal choice not to get vaccinated.
"And here we are on the tail end [of the pandemic] and we're still not able to work if we're not vaccinated."
Adrian Dix makes no new promises at UBCM to improve doctor and ambulance shortage Dunbar is one of many paramedics who lost their job as a result of vaccination status — and who are eager to get back to work for provincial health, watching as vaccination requirements ease in other provinces.
According to Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., 82 workers were terminated for not disclosing their COVID-19 vaccination status. It is a small fraction of about 4,500 workers who did receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to union representatives.
Michael Dunbar was a paramedic in B.C. for nine years before being terminated for his vaccination status. (Submitted by Michael Dunbar) But a group of those workers are calling on the province to allow them to return to work to help curb B.C.'s ambulance shortage as the number of patients waiting for extended periods of time for often life-saving service mounts across communities.
"I'm part of a group of 40-50 paramedics, we talk almost daily, and most if not all of them say we'd go back to work tomorrow if we could," said Dunbar.
B.C. woman who suffered stroke waited over an hour for an ambulance. Now she's partially paralyzed Vaccination requirements for health-care workers, which includes staff in hospitals and residential care centres, were renewed on Sept. 12.
More than 12.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., with health experts noting the risks associated with coronavirus infection far outweigh the risks of vaccination.
There have been more than 45,000 deaths associated with COVID-19 in Canada.
A B.C. Ambulance Service paramedic is pictured outside of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, B.C. in June 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Grievances filed Union president Troy Clifford says while the union takes the same position as the bulk of its members, who are in support of the vaccine mandate, it has filed wrongful termination grievances against the province on behalf of those who have lost their jobs. A third party arbitrator is expected to review the case early next year, he said.
"It's unfortunate that we've lost these 82 members because they were valuable employees that contributed to the service," said Clifford. "But we do respect their choices."
Still, Clifford says there are no signs that the province will reverse course anytime soon when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health workers.
SITUATION CRITICALWoman died of cardiac arrest in B.C. Interior town where ER was closed, only ambulance was half an hour away Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are among provinces that have lifted vaccine requirements for such employees. Ontario and Quebec never followed through on sweeping provincial mandates.
In a statement, B.C.'s Ministry of Health cited uncertainty surrounding the pandemic in the months ahead as among chief reasons health measure will stay in place.
"Spread of disease is also expected to increase again this fall and winter. The potential for another variant of concern to emerge remains a real concern," said a spokesperson.
A B.C. Ambulance Service paramedic is pictured outside of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver in June 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Mounting ambulance shortage Over the past year, many communities across the province have struggled with long waits for ambulances. In Barriere, a small town about 64 kilometres north of Kamloops in Central B.C., an investigation was launched after an infant died while waiting for an ambulance. It has yet to be confirmed whether ambulance response time was a contributing factor in the infant's death.
Dunbar said the number of unvaccinated paramedics willing to go back to work could account for more than 20 additional ambulances in communities provincewide.
"Obviously it's not going to solve the problem, that problem existed before COVID, but 24 ambulances on the street tomorrow or next week could make a big difference in the lives of British Columbians," he said.
Clifford says any additional staffing would be welcomed, but notes that a lifting of the mandate could also come with increased risk of transmission for both patients and staff.
"Any time we're losing staff for any reason, that has an impact on our service," he said. "We're also concerned if we're not able to be safe for our patients and ourselves, what risk does that pose."
Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. is currently in negotiations with the province for a new labour contract. Union reps are pushing for improved salaries and benefits that will put the profession on a level playing field with other jobs in the health-care sector.
Ambulance shortage? No. An ambulance / emergency response worker shortage; yes. And this shortage was self-inflicted by by the government.
and Canadians are responsible for this.
British Columbia aka Brutish Commiefornia.
The only good Premier in Canaduh is Danielle Smith in Alberta. After 3 1/2 years of JUSTIN Kenney, the globalist ‘conservative’ and four years of communist NDP Premier Rachel Nuttley, tha adults are finally in charge.
Government: Obedience is more important than lives
That Ontario and Quebec never followed through on the mandates is Moose $#!T.
Ontario operated in a very British/Fascist way. They made “recommendations” to the hospitals, nursing homes, etc. and expected uniform conformity enforced by the sub-units.
I had an unvaxxed former student who just graduated from nursing school this spring who had to scour the country looking for a place to work, and although she is well-connected (from Ontario, nursing school in B.C., and loads of friends in Alberta), the only hospital she could find that would higher her was in Manitoba.
She noted that she was glad that it was not in Winnipeg because she doesn’t like the size or the weather, and that the weather should be good, particularly in the winters, because it was in the very south of Manitoba—only a few minutes drive away from what is to referred to by North Dakotans as their Northern border.
Canadians have a fairly low bar for what they will call good weather.
Having spent a couple of weeks in Birmingham Alabama in late July and early August during a record-breaking heat wave, I’ll take Phoenix.
Summer weather in Ontario is like comfortable weather without bugs in the south-—definitely more real than Bigfoot, but not something that you can depend on with any regularity, though people are always looking forward to it.
Mostly a normal length (but late spring) followed pretty immediately by a normal length (but late fall), broken up by about two weeks of weather that might be called summer, followed by five to six months of winter.
And she would be RIGHT!! Have you been there in the summer??????
The Kanadian Pfascists are responsible for every death and worsened injury where delayed ambulance response contributed to it.
I suspect that he ‘feathered his nest’ quite well. Not as well as Presidementia XiJinBiden or Justin(e) True-dolt, of course, because Kenney did have SOME scruples.
In the waning days of his Premiership, he gave WestJet (now owned by Toronto’s ONEX Corp.) millions of $CDN to locate its international hub at YYC. He also gave Mount Royal University(MRU) in Calgary, money to increase its air pilot training program and purchase a multi-million $CDN 737 trailer.
I’m sure he’s looking for a Board seat at ONEX and MRU. Not as grand as Presidementia XiJinBiden, nor True-dolt, but, combined with his Federal MP pension and AB government pension, when he retires (or IS retired by his constituents, he won’t have to be lining up for food stamps!
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