N.S. legislature recalled to deal with paramedics legislation
Posted Jul 4, 2013 06:52:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As a strike by the province’s 800 paramedics looms, Nova Scotia politicians will return to the legislature Friday.
This morning, House of Assembly Speaker Gordie Gosse announced the legislature would reconvene at 9 a.m tomorrow.
It’s been widely speculated legislation will be introduced to prevent a strike by the province’s paramedics or legislate them back to work almost immediately in the event of job action.
The paramedics will be in a legal strike position at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Deputy premier Frank Corbett said last week that back-to-work legislation could be written quickly, if necessary.
Premier Darrell Dexter was saying little Thursday about what kind of potential action the government might take.
“These things are all very stressful for everybody involved – for the workers, for the public at large, not the least of which for us…I suppose people don’t think about political leadership in that way, but the reality is you are talking about the safety and security of the people of the province,” Dexter told reporters.
Dexter wouldn’t talk about the province’s contingency plan, but indicated it had not changed since the last tentative agreement was reached with paramedics.
The members of Local 727 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, have turned down three offers from private employer Emergency Medical Care Inc.
