Premier Francois Legault is opening the door to bonuses or differentiated pay for Quebec ambulance technicians still without a work contract.

He met with a small group of protesters from the Fédération du personnel préhospitalier du Québec (FPHQ) on Friday morning during an announcement in Notre-Dame-du-Portage.

Their collective agreement expired in March 2020, while other public sector employees are already negotiating a new agreement that will run from 2023 to 2026-2027.

The union represents 30 per cent of the paramedical technicians in the sector, and they are grouped into fraternities, mainly in the regions.

In particular, they are demanding an end to shift work, a common scheduling system in the regions that many workers don't like.

In a news conference, Legault said that he was sensitive to their demands but that he had to respect a certain fairness with the 70 per cent of union members in the sector who have signed a collective agreement.

"In some regions, the reality is different from the rest of Quebec, and perhaps we should look at bonuses or different compensation," said Legault, referring to what was brought up during his meeting. "So we're going to look at whether the realities are different and deserve different compensation."

He promised to discuss this with his health minister, Christian Dubé, and Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel, who is responsible for negotiations.

"There is a question of equity," said Legault. "We cannot give different salary increases to different unions."

Shift schedules are also a thorny issue in the regions and have been criticized by the opposition, but according to Legault, the issue has not been addressed by FPHQ representatives.

Under a shift schedule, an ambulance driver must be on call and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to Legault, the problem with the schedules is "continuous work," as he put it.

"It will never be perfect," he said. "We can't have an ambulance on every corner."

According to the Parti Québécois, ambulance coverage is "totally deficient" in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and precarious in the regions of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the Eastern Townships, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Nord-du-Québec, the North Shore and even Lanaudière, on the outskirts of the metropolitan region.

The FPHQ says it represents 1,800 ambulance drivers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 3, 2023.