The bargaining team for the striking union which represents BC’s ambulance paramedics will be taking what they consider a "repugnant" contract offer from their employer to a membership vote.

CUPE Local 873, which has been on strike since April 1, will also be asking the Labour Relations Board to reconsider the definition of “essential services” that currently limits what strike actions paramedics can take during the dispute.

“The employer (BC Ambulance Service) has implied that our bargaining team and our executive don’t represent our members,” local 873 president John Strohmaier said in a press release, “so we have decided to consult directly with our 3,500 members on their latest proposal.”

Strohmaier said the executive will be strongly recommending rejection of the offer, calling it “repugnant”. But he added that “it will be the members who ultimately decide on the offer by weighing in with their collective voice.”

In an internal union document circulated to members on September 28, and obtained by the Tyee, Strohmaier called the employer’s offer “a piece of crap.”

The President’s Update document goes on to say that the two key areas of disagreement are money and third party review.

The employer, the president says, wants to limit union input to a third party review, and refuses to include paramedic compensation as part of the review, despite the fact the union has offered to agree to a non-binding third party review.

On money issues, Strohmaier says the employer’s offer of three per cent raise would leave his membership “…even farther behind our emergency response colleagues.”

B.J. Chute, director of public education for the CUPE local, told the Tyee in a phone interview on September 30 that the union had directed its lawyers to apply to the Labour Relations Board to reconsider the definitions of essential service that currently apply to this dispute under Section 72 of the Labour Code.

“The Essential Services Order has handcuffed paramedics,” Chute said. “We hope a reconsideration of the ESO will give us access to more of our traditional strike activities.”

In his letter to members, Strohmaier said he was sending the union’s lawyers back to the LRB in an effort to level the playing field between union and employer, and make the dispute “feel more like a strike.” Then, he predicted, the employer would begin to take negotiations seriously.

Chute said that the most recent settlement proposal from the BC Ambulance Service was essentially unchanged from the offers presented when the dispute began.

He said the process for taking the offer to his members for a vote would begin next week, and could take weeks or even months to complete.

Tom Sandborn reports on health policy and labour issues for the Tyee. He welcomes feedback and story tips at [email protected]