THUNDER BAY — Paramedics who work for Superior North EMS in the City of Thunder Bay will receive an 8.5 per cent pay increase over the four-year term of their new collective agreement.
The deal was announced on Saturday, just hours before a strike deadline.
Local 39-11 unit chair Rob Moquin said the members voted nearly 98 per cent in favour of the agreement.
It still has to be ratified by Thunder Bay city council, but City Manager Norm Gale has welcomed the tentative settlement, saying it prevents any disruption of paramedic services.
The collective agreement covers only the 108 paramedics assigned to work in the city. Paramedics who work for Superior North EMS in district communities fall under a different bargaining unit.
Moquin said the new deal shows that the city values its paramedics because it reduces the compensation gap between them and other first responders, something the union has been trying to address.
"While more work needs to be done, important gains were made to begin to close the gap," he said.
Other details of the contract, which is retroactive to March 2020, have not been released as yet.
According to Unifor, Thunder Bay is the busiest area in Ontario for paramedic services on a per-capita basis.
