It appears as though the labour dispute involving private ambulance operators is starting to heat up.

Teamsters Local 855 Business Agent Hubert Dawe is accusing the provincial government of taking a “drastic step” to “undermine organized labour and the future of EMS in rural” Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dawe says the Department of Health and Community Services sent a letter out late yesterday afternoon recruiting PCP and EMRs as replacement workers. He says the Regional Health Authorities have agreed to provide funds to increase replacement worker wages by approximately $12 an hour more than current wages.

That, he says, is substantially more than unionized workers had been seeking.

The health authorities are also providing funds for replacement workers to cover accommodations, travel, and miscellaneous expenses at provincial government rates, according to Dawe. He believes government’s move will “backfire” and says the union’s phones haven’t stopped with calls from angry members.

The news comes just as some employers have agreed to return to the bargaining table.