Juliet Kaczmarek is a paramedic on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, but under proposed changes to her collective agreement, she’s expecting to sometimes make $2 an hour for an on-call shift.
Kaczmarek is stationed in Oliver, B.C. as a casual paramedic, and when she’s scheduled for an on-call shift, she has to be ready to respond to an emergency within minutes.
She makes $2 an hour if there are no calls, but until this week, would also be paid four hours at a full wage, which usually starts around $27 an hour.
However, she said that effective April 3, under the proposed terms of her new collective agreement, she would no longer get that guaranteed pay if there are no calls. “So what that looks like for myself: I’m commuting to