County of Essex Statement on Negotiations with CUPE Local 2974.2

The County of Essex has chosen not to comment publicly on negotiations with CUPE Local 2974.2, which represents Essex-Windsor EMS paramedics and support staff, out of respect for the collective bargaining process. With the assistance of a conciliator, the County met again today with the Union. Unfortunately, the parties were unable to reach an agreement. CUPE Local 2974.2 has communicated an amendment to its strike deadline from October 5th to October 8th to align with the deadline for establishing an Essential Ambulance Services Agreement as prescribed by the Ontario Labour Relations Board on October 1st. The County of Essex believes it is important to provide residents with accurate information about both its bargaining position and the continued delivery of paramedic services.

In a recent news article, the President of CUPE Local 2974.2 is quoted asserting that the County of Essex refused to offer even the current market rate for collective agreements being negotiated across Ontario, and social media posts have suggested that members of County Administration and Council do not value Essex-Windsor EMS employees. These are simply not accurate depictions of the County of Essex’s position.

The County of Essex has a deep and long-standing respect for the services provided by Essex-Windsor EMS employees and recognizes their professionalism, skill and dedication. Paramedics provide valuable and vital frontline medical services to residents of Essex County, the City of Windsor and Pelee Island. This is extremely demanding work in a healthcare system that is chronically under pressure. These pressures include increased demand for services, ambulance offload delays, and recruitment challenges, which affect paramedic services across Ontario.

Since April, the County of Essex has been tabling competitive offers that would, based on current and recently settled collective agreements, significantly increase the Essex-Windsor EMS primary care paramedics hourly wage over the next three years and place them among the highest paid in Ontario by 2028, behind only Toronto paramedics. For context, the following chart shows primary care paramedic wages rates in 2028 for other paramedic services in Ontario:

CUPE Local 2974.2 has compared Essex-Windsor EMS wages to those paid by police and fire services. While all three provide critical emergency services, the County of Essex notes that police and fire services fall under different legislative, regulatory and collective bargaining regimes and they provide different services. Therefore, the County of Essex believes its offer is fair, competitive and above the current market rate for paramedic services, designed to make Essex-Windsor EMS an employer of choice and attract paramedics to work in our region. 

While compensation has been a significant focus of public discussion surrounding these negotiations, it is only one component of the collective agreement. The County of Essex is also committed to ensuring Essex-Windsor EMS employees have the support they need to succeed. Recognizing the impact of the demanding work and systemic pressures facing Essex-Windsor EMS employees, the County of Essex continued its commitment to the wellbeing of our employees by ensuring mental health related initiatives were a focus of these negotiations.

The County of Essex continues to make significant investments to support Essex-Windsor EMS including hiring more paramedics, adding ambulances to its fleet and building EMS bases. In the last four years alone, County of Essex Council has approved more than $14.5 million for capital improvements to Essex-Windsor EMS bases and increased the annual operating and capital budget from $54 million in 2023 to $64.75 million in 2026. The County of Essex continues to work internally and coordinate with regional partners to address complex and systemic issues facing paramedic services in Ontario in a balanced manner that considers system capacity and long-term sustainability.

However, the County of Essex must also consider its responsibility to residents to control costs and spend their taxpayer dollars in a responsible manner, particularly during a period of rising costs and economic uncertainty. Every resident and business in the region is being affected by the economic impact of substantial trade tensions and new tariffs. The County of Essex is mindful of these sustained inflationary pressures and seeks to balance its commitment to competitively compensate Essex-Windsor EMS employees with its responsibility to the taxpayers who fund these paramedic services.

The County of Essex does not want a labour disruption and understands the public’s concern about its potential impact. That is why the County of Essex has met with CUPE Local 2974.2 on more than 10 occasions and attended 3 additional meetings with a conciliator. The County of Essex has offered to resolve all outstanding issues through binding interest arbitration, to avoid any labour disruption, and remains committed to reaching an agreement that respects all unionized Essex-Windsor EMS employees while also meeting our responsibility to County of Essex taxpayers.

If CUPE Local 2974.2 engages in a strike, the parties’ Essential Ambulance Services Agreement (“EASA”) will come into effect. Under the terms of the EASA, the Community Paramedicine Program will be temporarily suspended, and ambulance staffing levels will be reduced by six ambulances during daytime hours and three ambulances overnight. We recognize the important role Community Paramedicine plays in supporting vulnerable residents. Essex-Windsor EMS will contact clients currently enrolled in the program directly and provide information on alternative healthcare and community resources to help meet their ongoing needs during the service interruption.

In determining where operational reductions will occur, Essex-Windsor EMS has analyzed call volumes, ambulance resource availability, response time performance, and geographic considerations. We are committed to minimizing the impact of service reductions on patient care while maintaining the safest and most effective emergency response system possible for all communities within the requirements of the EASA.

Residents should continue to call 9-1-1 for medical emergencies. Essex-Windsor EMS will continue to work closely with municipal, healthcare, and emergency service partners to maintain essential ambulance services and keep the public informed as additional information becomes available.

Residents can find the latest operational updates, information about non-emergency health care resources such as Health811, and a link to an FAQ about negotiations, at https://www.countyofessex.ca/news/posts/faq-negotiations-between-the-county-of-essex-and-cupe-local-29742/.