Raging Duff

More trouble at Montreal’s ambulance service. More than 500 Urgence Sante paramedics are refusing a computerized schedule due to start May 25 they say cuts even more into what little family time they have.
The paramedics just signed a new contract, but this system isn’t in it. They say management brought it in unilaterally, without consulting the union and they claim they'll refuse their assignment sheets.
The new shifts will end at 5pm or 6pm or 7pm, and for some people that means paying fines for not picking their kids up from daycare or after-school programs. This is a big deal for the working poor, which some of these paramedics certainly are. Some of these services have instituted penalties of up to $5 per every 10 minutes you’re late.
Urgences Sante paramedics usually end up working about an hour of overtime per shift. The low end of the pay scale is $17, the high end is $23.82. If you use $20 as the median, for an hour of overtime the average employee makes $30 gross, and if they're an hour late to pick up their kid, it's $30 net.
Why does Urgence Santé insist on punishing paramedics with thse working conditions? In other jurisdictions, these men and women are looked upon as the vital first links in the chain of survival. Here, they're still looked at as glorified morgue attendants whose task it is to toss the cooling meat into the back of the wagon, then tool off to the nearest hospital, where REAL medical personnel can declare them DOA.
Come to think of it, maybe that's it. The slower the ambulance, the fewer people will pile up in those ERs and make whoever's in power look bad.
In that light, Urgence Santé's actions are fully consistent with Quebec's emergency healthcare priorities.