From another negotiation table…
Right now, the city’s consciousness is firmly focused on the SEPTA strike and the contract impasse that is keeping the buses, trollies and trains silent. However, according to the Daily News, another group of city employees is currently pondering a strike, and if they go out, it could put the city in a great deal more danger than the strike we’re dealing with now. I’m talking about the firefighters, specifically Local 22 of the International Firefighters Association. The sticking point in these talks is the paramedic situation.
While paramedics make up a little more than 10 percent of the 2,400 members of Local 22, their plight has become an important bargaining point for the union.
The union is ready for a showdown, said vice president Bill Gault, because the number of paramedics has fallen perilously low, to about 290. That’s down more than 25 percent from the 400 who were on the job four years ago, when the last contract was being arbitrated, he said.
This has had a major impact in a variety of ways, said Gault.
“It’s a safety issue because we run out of rescue squads every day, and people who may be seriously ill have to wait,” he said. “It affects the health of our paramedics because they are on the go nonstop for entire tours, doing work that drains you emotionally and physically, without even a break for a meal.”
To read the rest of the article, go here.
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This is insane
I thought you were all about the rights of workers to strike, Brady?
They do have a valid arguement, but I honestly don’t think a strike will fix much of anything for these folks either. It’s too bad it’s so hard to get paramedics to an urban setting like Philadelphia.
Firefighters and paramedics aren’t allowed to strike, by state law (as indicated in the article).
That said, it’s clear the city needs to address the working conditions for the paramedics, or there’s no way they’re ever going to solve the understaffing problem.