BONNYVILLE – It took just four and a half days for Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) management and board members to reach an agreement with the Bonnyville paramedics’ union, Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA).
All EMS workers in the province are represented by HSAA.
Before the BRFA could negotiate with its staff’s union representatives, they first had to negotiate a new Albert Health Services (AHS) agreement, which allows the local organization to provide ambulance services for the region.
“Ultimately, we need to be the local contractor or else we couldn’t go forward with a collective agreement for EMS,” explained Dan Heney, the Regional Fire Chief for the BRFA.
Once the ink dried on the BRFA-AHS service provider contract, negotiations could begin on a new collective bargaining agreement for local paramedics employed by the regional fire authority.
Representing the BRFA at the bargaining table was Heney, Alicia Krawchuk, the regional deputy fire chief, Patrick Allen, the division chief of EMS, MD of Bonnyville Coun. Mike Krywiak, who is a BRFA board member, and Town of Bonnyville Mayor Elisa Brosseau, who is the chair of the BRFA board.
On the other side of the table was a bargaining team made up of HSAA union relations officers.
When it came to negotiating with HSAA on behalf of its Bonnyville members, it took roughly four days to reach an agreement and another half a day to prepare the paperwork. The agreement was then ratified by both union members and the BRFA board during the agreement’s first vote.
“In the labour relations world that is what is called a freely negotiated agreement. We didn’t have to go to an arbitrator, we didn’t have to go to mediation. We found a happy middle ground together,” Heney told Lakeland This Week.
“I would suggest that it was a very positive agreement. I couldn’t be happier with the team we had in the room and the professionalism that they showed. The creative thought process that they applied to the entire process and HSAA’s team was also very professional and respectful.”
He noted that the negotiation was not like the cliché controversial relationship between union and management often seen on TV. It was the exact opposite, with lots of open and honest discussion, said Heney.
The new deal
According to Heney there are a few significant differences between the previous collective agreement and the new agreement.
Specific details of the new agreement could not be provided as some of the changes may relate to the recently negotiated service provider contract between the BRFA and AHS.
When asked about the AHS agreement, Heney stated, "By virtue of our contract with AHS, we are not allowed to discuss our contract with AHS.”
However, the fire chief did share, “The last agreement had a very, very small increase in wages and in this agreement, we were able to give a little bit of a healthier wage package.”
There were no significant changes to hours or vacation time, but most of the other changes came down to ‘quality of life’ for both sides.
“Everyone assumes that in union negotiations it is all about money, but there are a lot of quality-of-life issues that get discussed too and that is quality of life for both sides. Making it easier for people to come in and do their job, making it easier for the supervisors to supervise, and for management to do what they have to, to run the business,” said Heney.
“Of course, no one ever thinks they are paid enough, but at the same time the employer never has enough money to pay everyone what they think they deserve to be paid. So, you have to find a middle ground that makes everyone happy.”
Paramedic retention
Whether or not the new collective agreement will help to draw in more EMS staff is unclear as the changes went into effect on Jan. 1, however it is a step in the right direction, said Heney.
“We are in a better place than we were before, and we've got a better deal in place for our folks, and we've got a good relationship with our union... maybe doesn't get me anybody new right away, but it means I hang on to a few more people,” he said.
Elected officials at the bargaining table
While relatively uncommon, having elected officials representing two of the municipalities the fire authority serves as part of the BRFA’s bargaining team was a benefit to union negotiations, said Heney.
As elected officials, both Mayor Brosseau and Coun. Krywiak understand the health care crisis happening in rural Alberta, as well as the financial implications impacting their municipality and ratepayers.
It also shows transparency, said Heney. “It would be really easy if it was just the senior leadership of the BRFA in there. We could just say ‘Sorry, the municipalities won't do that’ and it would be very easy for the for the union to assume that we're just using the municipalities as the scapegoat for not bargaining in a way that that helps them out.”
When elected officials have a front row seat and a say in how the region’s ambulance service is negotiated for, they can share that with their ratepayers.
“On the flip side, when the time comes for those councils to talk about the value that they're getting out of the BRFA and their EMS service – well, they got to see it in action,” he said. “We did what we could to minimize the cost of the service to the municipalities and at the same time, keeping in mind that we still need our staff. We can't do EMS service if we don't have staff.”
There is one even greater benefit of having the area’s local politicians in the room – rural health care advocacy for rural-urban wage inequity.
“Now those elected officials are able to use their voices as elected officials with the province to talk about those kinds of inequities,” said the fire chief. “You fight that fight when you have elected officials that recognize it as a problem and are willing to champion it on behalf of your staff.”
RELATED STORY: Paramedic wage disparity top talking point of BRFA and AHS service agreement
With an AHS contract on the books and union agreement in place until March of 2024, BRFA staff and its board can direct more attention to projects like moving the organization’s headquarters into the Kopala building.
