CUPE Local 416 filed its grievance with the city Thursday, a day after EMS brass suspended paramedics Ken Horton and Mike Merriman over recent unsanctioned comments to the media. Mr. Merriman was given a one-day unpaid suspension, while Mr. Horton — who was also written up for wearing his uniform off-duty during a city hall appearance and arriving at work “late” a handful of times, including on days he was not scheduled — was handed a three-day penalty.
“They’re trying to shut me up, absolutely, no question,” Mr. Horton said in an exclusive interview with the National Post, noting the incident has inflamed tensions between on-the-ground ambulance workers and the managers who oversee them.
“People are talking about wildcat action. People want to put the message home that you can’t treat our medics like this.”
Senior EMS managers have been in the public spotlight for several weeks amid reports of massive overtime payouts and questionable staffing decisions. Some managers making around $100,000 have taken home tens of thousands extra in overtime, even as paramedics complain of staffing shortages among the rank-and-file.
In interviews with the Toronto Sun, Mr. Merriman likened the situation to “fat cats feeding at the cream again,” while Mr. Horton complained management was diluting the pool of first responders “while swelling the numbers of office-bound bureaucrats.”
Such unsanctioned public comments, they were told, violate the organization’s standard operating procedures.
“Many of the comments that you made to the media… are either incorrect and/or misleading and your description of senior management throughout the articles is inappropriate and unprofessional,” states a letter to Mr. Horton from District 5 Commander Michael McCallion. The three-page letter, dated Dec. 5, points out that Mr. Horton was previously warned against speaking publicly, as standard operating procedures prohibit EMS staff from expressing personal opinions on policy matters.
“You are not a spokesperson for the union in relation to the interests of paramedics,” the letter states. “If you do not believe that your voice is being heard, it is an internal union matter.”
In a three-hour disciplinary meeting Wednesday night, Mr. Horton was also chastised for wearing his uniform off-duty to a November city council meeting and attending work late on 12 occasions. But on two occasions of “lateness” listed, he was not even scheduled to work, Mr. Horton said; on the others, he was clocked about four minutes late on average.
Toronto EMS spokeswoman Kim McKinnon declined to comment on the situation, citing city policy on labour and employment matters. CUPE Local 416 president Mark Ferguson, meanwhile, said the union would argue during the grievance process that all employees should be entitled to whistleblower protection.
“I think that there’s a main issue that management needs to address that has gone unaddressed for many years, and that is the serious staffing shortage that we’re experiencing in EMS,” Mr. Ferguson said. “I can’t speak to the employers’ motivations; those issues will be dealt with, I imagine, through the grievance process.”
Mr. Horton says management’s strict interpretation of the rules in his case suggests they are “hiding behind” technicalities to clamp down on dissent, even though the key issue of understaffing — his main target for criticism — has been recognized by the service’s upper echelons.
Interestingly, Mr. Horton says his manager worked overtime Wednesday night to dole out the discipline. And once again, Mr. Horton was instructed not to speak to the media — a condition he says he cannot abide.
“The story has to be told,” Mr. Horton said. “If they think that they can silence me by terminating me, it’s a tough line to take. This sort of equates to third-world dictatorships… I’m bringing this out because public safety’s at risk, and instead of acknowledging that and working with paramedics, they’re trying to shut paramedics up.”
Original Article
Source: national post
Author: Megan O'Toole
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