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Ambulance strike looms for Monday; Newburyport, surrounding towns affected

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: 07/25/2007
Ambulance strike looms for Monday; Newburyport, surrounding towns affected

Katie McMahon/Staff Photo -Amesbury firefighter-paramedic Rich Shellene restocks supplies in the ambulance at the Amesbury fire station yesterday. Amesbury may be responding to more calls if AMR employees go on strike Monday.
By Dan Atkinson
Staff Writer



NEWBURYPORT - Emergency medical technicians working for privately owned American Medical Response say they are long overdue for a raise.

So on Monday, if an agreement is not reached, EMTs in four states, including eight towns in the Greater Newburyport region, are prepared to walk away from their ambulances and strike. Employees of AMR, a Colorado-based company, provide service to Newburyport, Salisbury, Newbury, West Newbury, Merrimac, Rowley, Georgetown and Groveland.
Although AMR says a contingency plan is in place to provide coverage with out-of-town EMTs and local supervisors, at least one town is prepared to pick up the slack.
Amesbury does not use AMR, but its EMT service has a mutual aid agreement with Newburyport and Salisbury, fire Chief Bill Shute said. He said the strike could increase the number of mutual aid calls his paramedics go to for backup.
That could cause problems with overtime and summer vacations, Shute said. He had no definite plans for increasing staff.
"If we find out we're on the road 23 out of 24 hours, we'll have to address it with the mayor," Shute said. "But we'll see how things play out."
West Newbury fire Chief Rock Dower said area fire chiefs have been in contact with AMR, and the company is trying to hammer out a complete contingency plan with the state. For now, the plan is for other AMR employees from outside the area to staff the ambulances, with supervisors who are familiar with the area riding along.
"People will be seeing a familiar face," Dower said. He said he did not foresee any problems with the plan.
Newburyport fire Chief Stephen Cutter said he has been in constant contact with AMR's management since hearing of the possible strike. He said he thought response times would not be affected.
"They assured us there would be no problems," Cutter said.
AMR's employees are dissatisfied with contract talks and declared the process at an impasse a month ago. Contracts for service in the eight local towns have been in place for years, and there has never been a strike.
Workers, who haven't had a raise in four years, want a 3.3 percent increase, said National EMS Association President Torren Colcord. The union represents the 1,000 AMR employees who might strike in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine.
Workers also want similar health benefits as their supervisors, who pay 10 percent of the premium. The company is proposing that the workers pay 25 percent of their premiums.

A 92 percent majority of the union voted last week to strike.
"The last thing our folks want to do is leave any communities uncovered or in peril," Colcord said. "We've given AMR ample opportunity to come up with an equitable agreement. What our guys are asking for is embarrassingly modest."
AMR said in a statement that it "remains committed to bargaining in good faith in order to reach an agreement that is fair and equitable to both the employees and the company."
Jim Misercola, the East Coast representative for the National Emergency Medical Services Association, the union for AMR employees, said AMR's wages and practices justified the strike. While he said he realized the strike could give a bad impression, he said public reaction to picketers was positive.
"When the public has seen our picketers and signs, not one person has had a complaint about what we're doing and why we're doing it," Misercola said. "It's not a case of people who have it good whining for more ... I think we have the public's sympathy."
Shute said the labor dispute underlined recent discussions by communities like Lawrence and Newburyport about going back to a fire department-based EMT system. Firefighters, like police officers and teachers, are not allowed to strike.
"There's been a lot of push over the past few years just for this reason," Shute said. "Private companies are there to make money, the fire department is more to provide services."


Posted by: Sgt K

EMS owners all suck! Same circus different clowns! "Private" EMS field personnel are the most underpaid and least appreciated of the big three public safety agencies. They expect young adults to join the EMS field and survive on 11.50 an hour, work 24 hour shifts, and work out of piss poor bases. It's a surprise that AMR has a union and voted to strike? I don't think so!
The corporate big wigs could give a rat's ass less about the basics and medics busting their asses day after day and night after night. As long as a bill can go out to "Medicare" or "Medicaid" they are happy.
I did my first shift on a truck on June 1st, 1980 and until recently worked full or part time since 1980 at "Action Ambulance" and for five years in the mid-80's at "Boston EMS".
Because of my full time PD and full time law school obligation, my availability for "per diem" shifts dropped dramatically. I guess I didn't meet the minimum shift per month quota. My 27 year employment history with "Action Ambulance" ended with a threatening letter about turning my name into a collection agency for not returning their glow in the dark hideous green/yellow EMS jacket. Apparently, my whopping 22.50 an hour salary was cutting into their budget and becoming a big financial strain.
I hope every private EMS company loses their contracts and municipalities smarten up and take back the EMS function. Boston EMS is one of the finest systems in the country, the employees get very good wages because of being in BPD's CBA, and prove daily that a municipality can run the EMS service without "private" corporate bullshit!
Excuse my rant but I'm a tad disturbed this evening!
As always, stay healthy and safe!


Posted by: rg1283

Its sad that they make so little. Every level of EMT deserves atleast a $2 raise min. right off the bat. It is profoundly retarded that some companies pay less then $15.00 an hour for a new medic right out of school. So you think oh thats not bad what about after 5 years holly crap $16.76 an hour!!!! (sarcasm) For someone who can stick a LMA tube down your throat and do just about everything an MD can do during a code. I'm sorry I think that medics should make $18.00 an hour to start right out of school. And Basics should make atleast $13.00 an hour our of school. Unreal. And no I'm not an EMT this is why I never became one. I wanted to volunteer with my local community (Volunteers cover shifts at night, etc.), but they are all paramedics, too much schooling for too little money if I wanted to work for a private.

Source (From Fallon Ambulance site): http://www.fallonambulance.com/caree...recruitbro.pdf


Posted by: GD

They have come a long way from where they were 10-15yrs ago. I was an EMT for ten years and worked for Norfolk Bristol Ambulance which merged to eventully become AMR.
When I started I was paid $6.15/hr. When the union came in, they pay got better. Unfortunately, EMS is big business and they don't want to pay.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sgt K
I hope every private EMS company loses their contracts and municipalities smarten up and take back the EMS function.
As long as a private company can offer EMS service for free to a city or town, you're not going to see that happen.


Posted by: Sgt Jack

Quote:
Originally Posted by GD
They have come a long way from where they were 10-15yrs ago. I was an EMT for ten years and worked for Norfolk Bristol Ambulance which merged to eventully become AMR.
When I started I was paid $6.15/hr. When the union came in, they pay got better. Unfortunately, EMS is big business and they don't want to pay.
I worked for ASA when they merged Chualk with Norfolk Bristol back in 95...was making a whooping $7.15 an hour....as I remember right the union did sh*t for us...went on to Cataldo a year later and thought I was getting big money at $9.00...of course they treated us like crap and it was management through terrorization...possibly the only job after awhile I was afraid to go to work....only good thing was the group I worked with was a pretty tight bunch..made the place seem somewhat bearable for a while anyway...


Posted by: fscpd907

Ambulance service returning to duty after shutdown in ’80s

Five firefighters to retain jobs as result of $400,000 contract

By M. Elizabeth Roman TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
eroman@telegram.com
FITCHBURG— A city-run ambulance service will return a week from tomorrow after more than 20 years on hiatus, according to a contract completed with MedStar Ambulance Co.

The agreement, signed Thursday, contained no surprises, according to what Fire Chief Kevin Roy told City Councilors last week in order to get approval of $350,000 to keep five firefighters from losing their jobs.

MedStar guarantees a return on the money in the contract. It will pay $400,000 to the city in installments between now and June 30, regardless of how much money the service collects from billing.

“We are very happy with the contract,” Mayor Dan H. Mylott said. “We think it is going to be very beneficial for the city. We look forward to analyzing the data and information from this.”

The bulk of the money will pay for five firefighters to run a Basic Life Support ambulance.

Two Advanced Life Support vehicles will be housed in Fitchburg fire stations but staffed by MedStar employees, and the company will pay the city $24,000, out of the $400,000, according to the contract.

MedStar agreed to pay the city $6 per call, up to $26,000, for all city-dispatched calls completed. The company will not reveal how much it actually bills for each call, but it agreed to share that information confidentially with the city for its long-range planning, according to the contract.

A joint oversight committee will evaluate the service and make recommendations next year.

When the city last had an ambulance service, David Gilmartin, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, was mayor from 1978 to 1984.

“I think it’s a smart idea,” he said yesterday of the city-run ambulance proposal. “This is the best way to achieve this right now.”

Before 1950, police took patients to the hospital in paneled vehicles called wagons. In 1954, the city bought its first ambulance and continued the city-run service until 1983. Recently, the Fire Department was dispatching Patriot Ambulance to all emergency medical calls.

Mr. Gilmartin said many communities operate a lucrative ambulance service. However, he remembers that the ambulances fell into disrepair and eventually had to be decommissioned, because a separate fund had not been set up to save revenue from medical billing.

“It became an impossible situation,” he said. “You have to maintain the ambulance.”

He said he hopes the initiative works out when the city-run service returns Aug. 6, adding, “It’s been a long time coming.”


Posted by: kwflatbed

Deal averts ambulance workers' strike plan

By Claire Cummings, Globe Correspondent | July 30, 2007

The union representing employees of a private ambulance company that serves 40 New England communities called off today's strike after reaching a tentative agreement with American Medical Response yesterday, parties from both sides announced.
"We reached a tentative agreement this afternoon," company spokeswoman Deborah Hileman said. "We expect them to report as scheduled."
The proposal calls for union employees to receive increased health benefits and a pay raise, among other contract changes, said Torren Colcord, president of the National Emergency Medical Services Association, the union that represents company responders.
The company has 1,000 employees and serves communities in Maine, New Hampshire, and Eastern Massachusetts.
"We were not optimistic going into it, but after some initial rocky beginnings we were able to get our initial demands and a little more," Colcord said yesterday by telephone. "There were lots of high fives and good handshakes amongst the team."
Hileman declined to comment on the agreement, saying she wanted to wait until employees were notified. But Colcord said employees, who were faced with a 1-percent wage cut before negotiations, would now receive a wage increase of roughly 15 to to 19 percent over two years. That would come from money generated when nonunion workers -- who now pay less for health benefits than union employees -- begin paying the same amount under the new contract, Colcord said.
He said the contract, which would begin on Aug. 1, calls for improved working conditions in stations and more flexibility in use of paid vacation time for employees. He said the company's willingness to agree to the terms shows an improved relationship between the company and its employees.
Colcord and Hileman said they expect employees to ratify the two-year agreement, a process expected to happen within two weeks, Colcord said.
The parties have met about 25 times since late January to devise a new contract. Their previous one expired in September.
The company provides primary 911 response in 18 Massachusetts communities, including Brockton, Newton, Framingham, and Plymouth.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...s_strike_plan/


Posted by: rocksy1826

I've been in private EMS for 5 years now. I work for a service that provides 911 service to 6 towns in the s. shore/metro-west area along with many nursing facilities and psych facilities.

Yes, the pay sucks and conditions/politics blow, but I do truly love my job (despite the obvious lousy parts) anyway. I even value bs transports I've done due to the opportunity it provides me to really talk to with patients and learn in depth about how their condition(s) have impacted their life/physical abilities.

I applaud AMR for standing up for themselves (thought I'm partially relieved the strike was averted due to the call volume where I work already being high). NEMSA was campaigning where I work. There was much debate about if NEMSA supporters were comfortable with crossing the picket lines if sent into the AMR contract towns we were supposed to cover if the strike happened (newton, waltham, brockton, plymouth).

our union battle has been settled. nervous for the future. hoping what the masses felt was appropriate will be the best decision.

My philosophy on happily living while working with private EMS bs
- the call you get? is the call you get. Do it and shut up. It'll be over soon.
- care (within reason) or just pretend to
- ignore the bs/politics
- ignore the whackerbation
- don't piss off dispatch
- biofreeze, flexeril, naproxen, and chiropractors are the greatest things around
- don't piss in the company pool
- just do your damn job

aka common sense



(go NEMSA)


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksy1826
our union battle has been settled. nervous for the future. hoping what the masses felt was appropriate will be the best decision.
I don't want to ruin your day, but I really think the masses blew it.


Posted by: rocksy1826

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta784
I don't want to ruin your day, but I really think the masses blew it.

I agree. I'm not thrilled with the outcome. Union buster tactics were bought hook, line and sinker.

I'm trying not to be a pessimist about it


Posted by: Slimer



GO NEMSA!

It was a long battle but we final got what we deserve to have working in EMS. Here is the NEMSA Website so you can read all about it http://www.nemsausa.org/


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksy1826
I agree. I'm not thrilled with the outcome. Union buster tactics were bought hook, line and sinker.

I'm trying not to be a pessimist about it
You'll all be rewarded for a few months for being good little lemmings and going non-union, but eventually management will have a field day.

Also keep in mind a big reason why Quincy (and probably a lot of other municipalities) went with Fallon was because they were a union shop. That may cause problems when the current 911 contract expires.


Posted by: Mitpo62

The Taunton fire chief wants to take over the ambulance service here from AMR. I think the city looks at it as a $$$ making enterprise. Interesting concept.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitpo62
The Taunton fire chief wants to take over the ambulance service here from AMR. I think the city looks at it as a $$$ making enterprise. Interesting concept.
Every once in awhile the fire department in Quincy hints they want to take over EMS, but since the police department was the last city agency to provide that service, we would have to be compensated if it were brought back and given to another city agency.


Posted by: rocksy1826

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta784
You'll all be rewarded for a few months for being good little lemmings and going non-union, but eventually management will have a field day.

Also keep in mind a big reason why Quincy (and probably a lot of other municipalities) went with Fallon was because they were a union shop. That may cause problems when the current 911 contract expires.
Delta, I didn't vote "no union". Trust me. I am unhappy with the situation.

I'm well aware of the situation with the Quincy contract. Seems like many aren't though.

I prefer not to publicly discuss my feelings/opinions about the union/no union situation where I work (in greater detail, at least) for obvious reasons.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksy1826
Delta, I didn't vote "no union" so don't lump me in. Trust me. I am very unhappy with the situation.
I'm not lumping you into anything, but it seems your co-workers have already done that. That's the main pitfall of democracy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksy1826
I'm well aware of the situation with the Quincy contract. Seems like many aren't though.
I think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the majority of your co-workers have nothing or very little to do with 911 contracts, so perhaps that was a factor in the vote.

I would really hate to see Fallon lose the Quincy contract; they have outstanding personnel and have provided great service, but I can't see Quincy (regardless of who wins the mayoral election) renewing such an important contract with a non-union shop.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksy1826
I'd rather not discuss my feelings in detail here due to knowledge that field supervisors of mine (my friend, but I still do not discuss union/no union issues in depth with him) are registered users of masscops.
Understood.


Posted by: stm4710

I work for Cataldo full time. Its alright. Alot of BS and Harumph Harumph from the top. Its paying(barely) the bills for now. There going to have to be a change soon. But I am thankful I have a job and am not going to bitch about that.


Posted by: rg1283

All I have to say to the people who voted no union for Fallon, your real winners. Just think what would have happened if AMR didn't have a union. You very well could have seen $8.00 an hour EMT-Bs.


Posted by: rocksy1826

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta784
I'm not lumping you into anything, but it seems your co-workers have already done that. That's the main pitfall of democracy.



I think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the majority of your co-workers have nothing or very little to do with 911 contracts, so perhaps that was a factor in the vote.

I would really hate to see Fallon lose the Quincy contract; they have outstanding personnel and have provided great service, but I can't see Quincy (regardless of who wins the mayoral election) renewing such an important contract with a non-union shop.



Understood.
it's true, save for coverage and impact trucks, the majority of our bls only sees emergencies out of our contracts with nursing homes/misc. facilities. (except for brookline, because there are way too many calls there so there is very frequent non-dedicated coverage there)

the big thing seems to be that the majority of employees have 2 years or less in the field (mainly due to a good percentage of people with more experience leaving in disgust) not to mention a good portion are under the age of 21 and don't seem to grasp exactly what the benefits of a contract/union are. They seem to just see it as money out of their check every month.

Many of those that voted to keep a union are already rethinking their feelings about where they've chosen to work, but are trying to not be pessimistic.

Up until the end, it seemed like NEMSA would win. Then the company kool-aid somehow got spread much more widely




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