AMR and Piners vote to strike in northern California

[Just Plain Ruff]

To those who strike, I don't agree with striking but if you are gonna do it then that's your prerogitive but don't whine when you are hurt or a loved one is sick and needs an ambulance and there isn't one available because you all are on strike.. It's your prerogitive to strike but when you need an ambulance you might think different.

Good luck and I hope this gets straightened out but I sure feel sorry for those you are trying to serve.

[MadAxe]

All the more reason to strike, and put pressure on all the stakeholders to come up with a fair and reasonable solution. If AMR has a union, then their workers aught to show some solidarity with their colleagues and refuse to work in that area. Watch how fast the local politicians will jump if the prospect of no EMS coverage becomes a real possibility.

We're professionals deserving of a professional's wage. If it takes a threat of strike action to get that done, then so be it. As for the whole 'endangering the public/higher calling' argument, that's BS. Any worker deserves to be paid a salary commensurate with their skills, experience and responsibilities. In the end a well-paying service will attract and retain the best people, which will result in a higher quality service for the public.

[Just Plain Ruff]

unfortunately, you are endangering the public by striking. If they can't find a service to cover and the strike happens then that is exactly what will happen. people will have long waits for ambulances and they may not get an ambulance.

I agree that this is a bad deal all around but if the strike happens then they most certainly are endangering the public.

[MadAxe]

If you're not prepared to take action, then you're going to be stuck with substandard pay, substandard benefits, substandard everything. In Canada almost every service has had strong union representation for decades, and our working conditions and wages reflect that.

I don't want to see a member of the public come to harm because of a labour dispute. But I also have an obligation to my family to try and secure the best working conditions that I can. If the public (through their elected officials) is unwilling to meet me halfway, then they're the ones forcing the issue.

[coolemt]

So lets see if everyone understands what is really going on. Do you know how expensive it is to live in California let alone the Napa Valley? Don't you think we should get better paid for what we do? Benefits are going up, everything is getting expensive. AMR is screwing us in our contract talks. U really think that Piner Ambulance doesn't care about the community? I think you are way off base...

[Dustdevil]

All the more reason to strike, and put pressure on all the stakeholders to come up with a fair and reasonable solution. If AMR has a union, then their workers aught to show some solidarity with their colleagues and refuse to work in that area. Watch how fast the local politicians will jump if the prospect of no EMS coverage becomes a real possibility.

You're kidding, right? You can't be serious. Use your head. You're in CALIFORNIA! The birthplace of fire-based EMS! The only place that the local politicians are going to "jump" is to their fire chief. Then you won't have to worry about your "low paying job." In fact, you will have no job to worry about at all. And you will have only yourself to blame.

[mediccjh]

If one person dies because of a job action, you can kiss your union and your jobs good-bye. The public outcry would be ferocious.

[mmorris]

AMR is a great company however this is the story for every private ems service. We are to blame for the greedy ambulance owners because we do not stick together. Look at some of the post left by other ems folks on here saying things like employees should be sued. I'm sure people leaving post like that have been in the job for only a couple of years or work for a service that sleeps all night long. You really mean to tell me that its OK for big time CEO and ambulance service owners to make millions while you make 40,000 a year if your lucky, in a system that short staffed, your going to post at 02:00am because of some screwed up post plan, and being completely abused by the public because no one will step up and educate the public on how and when to use 911. EMS is in a bad spot right now. Good luck to my AMR Brothers and Sisters I hope you all stick together on this however remember AMR management for the most part is the best in the nation work with them as much as you can to make your service the best.

[LUVEMS]

As a former Piner employee I can tell you a bit about what is going on. I have been following this very closely for a few reasons. I have family and friends in Napa and want to know they are taken care of, and also because I think this whole thing is crazy!! I read that someone had put this was not about money, but one of the last things they were arguing about was MONEY. They got a raise but wanted more!! This is a fact! I think this is a horrible way for their union to get it's name on the board. They also said they have the support of the local FD an PD. They might have some support but i know of alot of them who think this is horrible. EMS is about serving your community not about higher pay. What if you need an ambulance while you're striking? Bet you'll be glad that those people crossed the picket line. I know that alot of the community is supporting Piners and you will see if this strike really happens. If you do get punished then it's your own fault. If I could help Piners and work for the community during this time then I would. You should be ashamed of yourselves!!!! i know how good it is all Piner's. Your own stations and you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you're taking care of your calls. You're a bunch of wining crying babies. If you want Piner's to be a different company then go somewhere else!

[CoCoMedic]

My name is Eric, and I am a Paramedic for Contra Costa County here in Northern California, and I wanted to clear up a few misconceptions about the events that are occurring with Piners Ambulance, and also with ourselves and AMR:

Number 1: Piners Ambulance employees are going on strike because they want a fair and equitable contract. First of all they were not offered a 10% to 19% raise (this is in reference to a contract that was offered by AMR to their employees) They simply want a fair contract period. Employees have been, harrassed, fired, demoted, disciplined, and had wages cut simply because they organized into a Labor Union. Multiple Unfair Labor Practice Violations have been filed on behalf of their new union against the owner of Piners Ambulance. Furthermore, these are employees that make between 5 to 8 dollars LESS per hour than the majority of Paramedics within the area (including myself). So in my opinion they are already very hardworking and self sacrificing people in the first place. Emergency Medical Services personnel should be treated better than this.

Number 2: American Medical Response proposed their "Final and Last" offer to their employees that belong to the Northern California bargaining unit (which is currently run by NEMSA, the National Emergency Medical Services Association). The problem with this last and final offer is that no one had been even sitting down at a bargaining table to discuss the issues! Our Union reps had a couple of phone conversations with the AMR negotiator and they pasted together a lousy propoosal. There was no committe, there were no sit downs, there was no mediator, there was just AMR on the phone sayng to us: "this is the best you are gonna get, now leave us alone, and get back to work". The contract that was proposed was a 6% raise now, and a 4.5 % raise next year, and thats it. However, my fellow co-workers and I have long felt that our new union is either not performing their job, or is colluding with the enemy in an attempt to bust the union, because they tried to sell this contract offer as being excellent. One of the ways that they tweaked the facts is that they said that an average employee would get a raise of between 10% to 19% per year, which was quite honestly just a twisting of the numbers so that they could look good. The actual raise is 6.0% this year, and 4.5% next year, and we are due for a cost of living raise (its been almost 14 months).

Another thing that our union failed to publicize is that AMR established themselves as being our Health Insurance Provider, i.e. they self insured their employees. This was done BEFORE any contract was ratified. AMR said that they would NOT reduce our benefits in our previous contract, and they have filed a couple of 30 day extensions with that contract up through August. Yet all of a sudden people were faced with a dramatic and hellish change in their medical insurance. People who had been on medications for years, now faced huge increases in their costs (hundreds of dollars sometimes), or they faced huge increases in their co-pays (from $10 a doctor's visit to $40, or $65). And now if anyone of us is seriously ill or injured we can expect to pay huge portions of our hospital stays. The dramatic change in the insurance was not a result of AMR asking us to shoulder an increased burden of the cost, it was a move to distribute increased profits to their shareholders while screwing over the employees (thats why all of our costs went sky-hi, its because AMR is now profiting on our medical coverage). Experts in the industry have even publicly stated that this is one of the worst insurance programs they have ever seen. Anyone and everyone that is placed on this plan has elected to acquire insurance through their spouses if such an alternative plan was available to them, this includes the AMR upper management at our own Operations Center.

Did the employees here vote to strike? Technically, yes they did. but once again this is a huge twisting of the facts. What really occurred is that our crappy union (NEMSA) sent out ballots for us to vote on whether to ratify the lousy contract offer that AMR had put on the table. On the ballots they had two choices: [YES] or [NO, I vote to strike]. What most of us really wanted is for our union to actually sit down at the bargaining table and hash out a compromise with AMR, instead of bending over and allowing them to control the entire situation. Therefore most of us marked the "NO, I vote to strike" box, even though it had a strike clause attached to it. Our intentions were primarily to force both AMR and our Union back to the table. A strike is not yet in our future, although I can't rule out the possibility. However, as long as our union leaders continue to sign 30 day extensions on the old contract we are prohibited from striking.

So things are not as honk and dory as everyone on this message thread has implied. Although I agree that the employees of Piners going on strike is a dramatic measure I think that something needs to be done to rectify the situation. I agree that is unnacceptable for the citizens of Napa to go without emergency services, but its also unnacceptable for the EMT's and Paramedics are Piners Ambulance to be treated in the manner that they have. Hopefully this threat of a strike will bring reason and sanity to an flammable situation.