Union has relieved relief en route after a months-long shortage of 911 dispatchers

The union representing the internal workers of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality says it is grateful that help is finally on the way after months of working with the 911 call center with a shortage of dispatchers.

Acting CUPE 933 president Cheryl MacDonald says the shortage has not yet impacted emergency services. But she says today’s workers are giving up family time to work extra shifts and are increasingly under pressure.

“Because there aren’t that many people, there’s always a chance of danger,” she said. “Has it ever reached that level? No, because of the great workers out there.”

The council deserves credit for its efforts and recent success in finding more employees, MacDonald said.

“We’re still short people,” she said. “Therefore, of course, the hiring process is underway.”

The union almost went on strike last year, partly because of the shortage of call center workers.

The municipality has been running an advertising campaign for part-time positions for years, but it has not yielded any results.

Deputy Chief of Administration John MacKinnon said potential candidates were available but needed more incentive.

“By changing the position to full-time, we get a significantly higher number of candidates applying,” he said.

CBRM now has two new 911 dispatchers in training and six others going through the final steps before being hired, MacKinnon said.

16 more candidates are being interviewed, but the council still wants more people to apply, as it is a rigorous process and not everyone is suited to be an emergency center.

“We have a lot of candidates, but it takes a little bit of time to go through the process and test them and everything, so we don’t know how many will come out at the end of the process,” MacKinnon said. .

“The more people we can have who have an interest in that, the better.”