The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

QUIK AUTO REPAIR Now! CAA Approved Repair Shop We specialize in General Repairs, Tires, Brakes, Tune-Ups, etc. 905 877 8220 354 Guelph St., Unit 21 Serving Halton Hills and Georgetown for 23 years 10% OFF Labour for CAA Members RUST CONTROL Featuring NOW BOOKING 2008 DATES AT 2007 PRICES! Sunday, February 17th 2:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Alexander Barn, Halton Region Museum Free Admission & Parking Halton Region Museum Courtesy: Esquesing Historical Society Join the Halton Region Museum in celebrating this years Heritage Day, featuring a presentation on the Dominion Seed House an important part of Georgetowns history. It you have memories or mementoes from the Dominion Seed House, please bring them to share. Museum tour and light refreshments to follow. 905-875-2200 Toll free: 1-866-442-5866 TTY: 905-827-9833 Located at the bottom of the ski hills inside Kelso Conservation Area. RR 3, Milton, ON www.halton.ca/museum Free Consultation 25% off any package Medical Aesthetics for Men & Women by Dr. Seegobin & staff effective non-invasive Las er s pider vein removal ros ace a telangectasias Skin tig htening dou ble ch in ? cellulite etc. Dr. Seegobin Vein & Laser Clinic 99 Sinclair Ave #202, Georgetown 905-702-9988 Laser hair removal face ? underar m ? back ? bikini safe Dr. Abdel-Malek, MD, accepting new patients 905-877-9998 WALK-IN PATIENTS WELCOME 9 - 5 pm Acton/Georgetown, Friday, February 8, 2008 3 Contract talks for Halton paramedics have broken down and are headed for mediation, with wage and benefit parity cited as key issues. OPSEU Local 207 announced on Wednesday that negotiations had reached an impasse. The unions paramedics have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006, but no major job actions are planned, said an OPSEU staff repre- sentative. Were not allowed to strike and work-to-rule is not an option we want to exercise, said Pati Habermann. We could raise awareness by doing an information picket, but it depends on how mediation goes. She said Halton paramedics wages are behind their counterparts in Toronto, Hamilton and Peel. Theres a big difference between Halton wages and Toronto wages, said Habermann. There are the same requirements with respect to the skills set and expectations of performance. For Halton paramedics (as of 2006), top hourly wages are $30 and hour for Primary Care Paramedics (PCP) and $33.49 an hour for Advanced Care Paramedics (ACP). Comparable figures are $35.30 and $37.07 for Toronto and $31.94 and $35.65 for Hamilton. These wages are as of 2008. In Peel (as of 2006), comparable wages for paramedics are $30 and $33.60. Our members want and deserve a timely agreement containing wage rates and benefits that respects the important and challenging work they perform, said Habermann. Halton has 101 full-time and 31 part-time land ambulance paramedics providing emergency care and basic life support, such as Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and first aid. All are qualified to drive the ambulances. Habermann said advance paramedics are also able to administer some medications. The union representative believes both sides want to reach a settlement without going to bind- ing arbitration. Theres definitely space in between what theyre offering and what were proposing, said Habermann. Its not huge, but weve got some work to do. She said Halton has added two new vehicles but is not hiring enough new paramedics. Halton itself is growing and we need to get more cars and more full-time paramedics. The union representative said another concern is off-loadiing delays, where paramedics have to wait at the hospital until the patient is under doc- tors care. Sometimes we have four or five vehicles wait- ing at hospitals, said Habermann. It cuts into working time and the paramedics are not avail- able for other calls. We have to bring in ambu- lances from other services. Habermann said it could take a year to get to arbitration. A Halton spokesperson said both sides are coming up with meeting dates and will then find an mediator. Well use the mediator as best we can, said John Phelan, Haltons director of human resources. He noted an arbitration process would require agreement on the arbitrator, scheduling and con- ducting an arbitration hearing and waiting for the arbitrators report. Phelan declined to answer some questions, cit- ing the regions protocol of not discussing con- tract issues in the media. Phelan noted the Region approved hiring the full-time equivalent of 10.4 new paramedics for 2008. He added theres no danger of a strike by para- medics and their service levels are mandated by law. Region, paramedics headed for mediation DENNIS SMITH Special to The IFP