FILE – Paramedics reply to a medical emergency.
(Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell)
In 2021, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams penned a joint op-ed with one in all us calling on the metropolis to safe pay parity for Emergency Medical Companies (EMS) employees. It adopted an op-ed the 2 of us co-wrote, demanding an finish to the indefensible pay disparities confronted by these employees.
Regardless of now having the facility to really ship, Mayor Adams has as a substitute turned his again on these frontline employees by failing to advance progress that might pay EMS employees what they deserve.
EMS employees—a lot of whom are ladies and folks of coloration—are severely undervalued and underpaid for his or her lifesaving work. These road docs deserve higher from our metropolis and it’s far previous time to supply a good contract that pays them truthful wages.
Low beginning salaries make it troublesome for the Metropolis to recruit and retain EMS personnel, contributing to constantly excessive attrition charges. Consequently, almost 75% of this workforce has lower than 5 years on the job.
And present members of the workforce wrestle to make ends meet as a result of low wages, forcing too many to work a second job. One among us is aware of the experiences of those employees firsthand as a result of our daughter is one in all them.
It’s completely unreasonable for a metropolis employee who’s a primary responder to emergencies throughout our neighborhoods to be so severely underpaid. Burnout and a scarcity of emergency employees result in elevated response occasions and extra adverse outcomes. Our metropolis of 8.5 million folks can not afford a shortage of lifesaving professionals, as 911 calls are rising. The implications could be deadly.
To stabilize the EMS workforce and preserve a dependable emergency response citywide, Mayor Adams should handle these excellent pay disparities by negotiating a good contract for EMS employees that lastly displays their value.
As unionized metropolis workers, wage will increase for EMS employees can solely be achieved by way of the collective bargaining course of managed by the mayor and his Workplace of Labor Relations (OLR). Mayor Adams’ administration has failed to supply EMS Native 2507 with a brand new contract for the previous three years, leaving EMTs and paramedics hanging out to dry.
Moreover, the mayor’s Workplace of Labor Relations refuses to acknowledge EMS as a uniformed service, stopping them from attaining parity with different first responders, like firefighters and cops. This disregard and disrespect for EMS employees denies them compensation and advantages prolonged to different uniformed civil servants.
EMS employees are essential to our collective well being and security, and the Council has been proud to struggle with them for pay parity whereas pursuing methods to extend different help for them.
Yr after 12 months, the Council has known as for the Administration to extend their wages in our Constitution-mandated response to the Mayor’s Preliminary Finances. This 12 months, we urged the Administration to dedicate $50 million to start addressing the long-standing pay disparities between EMS personnel and their counterparts in each the firefighting ranks and different main U.S. cities.
Regardless of Mayor Adams’ administration’s continued inaction in offering these important employees with the contract they deserve, the Council secured $1 million to create a brand new program that gives psychological well being help for EMS employees who reply to traumatic and troublesome conditions day-after-day.
Final 12 months, we additionally handed two new legal guidelines (Native Legislation 60 and Native Legislation 61) that require the FDNY to supply self-defense coaching and physique armor to maintain EMS employees protected.
The Council has constantly spoken out, stood with employees at rallies, and used our oversight.
Regardless of deceptive claims concerning the Council’s function, we’ve got finished every part inside our energy, with out having collective bargaining authority that determines salaries, to help this workforce.
Solely the mayor has that energy, and he should cease skirting his duty to our metropolis’s first responders.
Honoring EMS employees means paying them equitably for his or her useful labor. It’s a shame to name them ‘heroes’ and ‘sheroes’ whereas refusing to pay them sufficient to afford to reside within the metropolis they serve.
Mayor Adams has spent the final 4 years hiding behind options sitting proper in entrance of him. It’s not too late to do the fitting factor and help this workforce so New Yorkers could be protected now and sooner or later.
Adams is the speaker of the Metropolis Council and represents District 28 in Queens. Brannan is the Council’s Finance Committee Chair and represents District 47 in Brooklyn.
