Ambulance paramedics in B.C. have voted 96 per cent in favour of a strike to back their bid for a new collective agreement.
Job action won't occur immediately because the current contract for the 3,500 CUPE local 873 members is in effect until April. 1.
Paramedics are also governed by essential service legislation restricting a full-scale walkout.
Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. president John Strohmaier says more than 70 per cent of union members took part in the province-wide, mail-in strike vote.
He says the union has requested a mediator as paramedics seek a wage increase and improvements to working conditions that have slowed emergency response times.
According to Strohmaier, statistics suggest the B.C. Ambulance Service meets its goal of arriving in less than nine minutes just 52 per cent of the time, compared to 85 per cent in 1985.
Responding to increasing demand for ambulance services, B.C. Health Services provided a $2-million investment for 20 new full-time paramedic positions in September.
But citing a "critical" shortage of qualified positions, paramedics called for double that number.
The B.C. Ambulance Service (BCAS) responded to 304,269 calls in 2007/08, up from 250,857 in 2003/04. That number includes 911 calls and inter-facility transfers.
