Pay, Schedules at Issue
EMS Unions Start Contract Mediation

By ARI PAUL

The two unions representing Emergency Medical Service responders have begun mediation of their contract talks after city negotiators rebuffed their ambitious bargaining demands.

PATRICK J. BAHNKEN: EMS can't retain staff.

District Council 37 Local 2507, which represents Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, and Local 3621, which represents EMS officers, have been bargaining the terms of a new contract for the past year, but said that the city's chief negotiator has rejected their demands to raise salaries significantly or experiment with an alternative work schedule.

Contract Leverage Tested

The state's highest court last June upheld laws enacted by the City Council over Mayor Bloomberg's vetoes giving EMS workers uniformed status and their unions the right to bargain independently from DC 37. The unions hope to use their leverage under those laws to gain salaries and pension rights matching those of other uniformed workers.

"The Fire Department acknowledges that there are problems with retaining people and with recruiting people, and those are directly related to both the working conditions and the wages that we currently offer," said Local 2507 President Patrick J. Bahnken. "It would appear at this time that the Office of Labor Relations for whatever reason doesn't want to have an open mind. They're just not interested."

THOMAS EPPINGER: Productivity unrewarded.

The contract covering the two bargaining units expired on June 30, 2006, and they have been operating under the terms of that agreement since then.

Local 3621 President Tom Eppinger said that there is at least a $30,000 difference between the salary of an EMS Lieutenant and a Fire Lieutenant. He claimed that there are not enough people joining the EMS officers' ranks because Paramedics and EMTs are leaving to become Firefighters or take on other professions. Mr. Bahnken said the salaries for his members' job titles are not enticing enough to bring many new recruits.

Pay Differences

After five years, a Firefighter receives a base salary of $68,475, a Paramedic earns $50,501, and an EMT earns $39,179, according to the FDNY Web site. (Firefighters are working under a pact that has raised their pay more than 8 percent since the EMS pacts expired.) The starting salary for a Paramedic is $37,346, and it's $27,295 for an EMT.

Both EMS unions want to reduce this gap significantly and have said that the current pay structure has created an environment where EMS is not treated like a career unto itself but a stepping-stone for people who want to become Firefighters.

"Our attrition is rocket high," said Mr. Bahnken. "This summer 200 EMTs and Paramedics will become Firefighters. How are they going to staff ambulances?"

And the union leaders are frustrated because they both say that their members bring in revenue for the city through ambulance billing.

'All We Get's the Finger'

"We just brought in over $300 million," Mr. Eppinger said. "What are we getting? Nothing. We're getting a middle finger."

Mr. Bahnken is pushing for an alternative work schedule, where responders would work longer hours but have more days off during the month, but said that city negotiators rejected that proposal.

"We hit a brick wall when we hit OLR, because the department has made clear to me that they would really like to experiment with an alternative work schedule," he said.

City Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley declined to comment, citing on-going contract negotiations.

Mr. Bahnken said that he has turned down promotions for EMS Lieutenant because the pay raise was not substantial. Mr. Eppinger added that if that trend continued it would have long-term adverse effects for EMS.

"I would like to see parity with other supervisors in other uniformed agencies," Mr. Eppinger said. "We're putting our foot down. We have to make corrections in our salaries."