Paramedics, city head to arbitration after contract talks collapse
Lagging wages causing staff departures, recruitment challenges: union
GUELPH – Grant Miller says he saw progress toward a contract deal dissolve over the course of a single day last week.
By the evening of Aug. 5, talks between the City of Guelph and the union representing Guelph-Wellington's 207 paramedics had collapsed.
Paramedics have been without a contract since December, and both sides are now heading to arbitration over the union's ask for higher wages, a process Miller said may take over a year.
The union is arguing paramedics should be paid on par with Guelph police officers and fire fighters, and at rates more comparable to nearby emergency medical services.
Paramedic wages are frozen at 2025 levels: a maximum $45.53 per hour for primary care paramedics, $46.21 for those who can start intravenous lines and $50.99 for advanced care paramedics.
Guelph police officers make almost $59 per hour and firefighters just over $55, according to union figures.
"I am disappointed that we ended up going to arbitration over this," said Miller, an advanced care paramedic and president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 231.
The day started well, according to Miller, who said both sides reached agreements on lower-priority items.
"As the afternoon drove on … things seemed to grind to a halt," Miller said.
Despite working with a conciliator into the evening and the city moving on its offer, Miller said a deal couldn’t be reached.
Jordan Snobelen
The city proposed a four-year deal that, by the end of 2029, would still leave local medics roughly 75 cents per hour behind where comparable services sit today, according to Miller.
The city also suggested trading off some contract items to bolster wages, but Miller said that wouldn't be approved by 51 per cent of paramedics, which is required to ratify the agreement.
In an Aug. 5 statement published to the city’s website, the city said it approached conciliation in good faith and made some progress, but couldn't reach a settlement.
According to the city, the two sides last went to arbitration over wages in 2018.
In an emailed statement to the Advertiser, deputy Guelph CAO Colleen Clack-Bush said the city’s goal is "to remain competitive with our paramedic service comparators while ensuring long-term financial sustainability."
She named Halton, Peel and Waterloo regions among those comparators.
"The city remains committed to reaching a fair and balanced outcome that recognizes the vital role of our paramedics, supports overall affordability, and is sustainable for taxpayers," she said.
Clack-Bush did not answer a list of questions from the Advertiser and declined to comment further, citing a confidential bargaining process.
Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie called the impasse disappointing but said the process will have to run its course.
Guthrie declined to discuss the union's asks but suggested the sides could resolve the dispute with a willingness to strike a balance between the work paramedics do and the cost to taxpayers.
According to Miller, the wage gap is already costing the service staff.
Six paramedics have left for higher-paying services or other professions since May, he said, and a recent spring intake drew just 11 new hires.
Miller said paramedic crews respond to between 50,000 and 60,000 calls per year in Guelph and Wellington County.
"We can perform most of the skills, if not all of the skills, that can be performed in a modern [emergency room]," he said.
Medics feel "disrespected" and "undervalued" despite the city's "lip service," Miller said. "It's very disheartening."
