Public Employee Press

DC 37 organizing private-sector EMS crews

The union dispatched an army of 40 organizers in mid-February to make home visits to emergency medical service workers at a private ambulance company.

District Council 37 has started a drive to sign up the workers at TransCare. The initiative is part of a nationwide EMS organizing campaign of DC 37's parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

AFSCME and DC 37 organizers - including several members of Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Inspectors Local 2507 - gathered at DC 37 Feb. 13-14 for intensive training sessions to prepare for a two-week "blitz," an outreach to the private-sector ambulance workers.

With support from AFSCME, the DC 37 Organizing Dept. spent months quietly planning the campaign before going public with the February blitz. The training included the history of emergency medical services in the city, background on workplace and personnel issues, role playing and communications strategy for appealing to TransCare workers.

"Ultimately, this campaign is about empowering the workers and helping them improve their standard of living," DC 37 Organizing Director Mario Dartayet Rodriguez said.

The organizing drive aims to recruit the 340 EMS/911 workers of the company's ambulance service, which is based in Brooklyn.

TransCare Corp. is a private for-profit ambulance operator that works in Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

"These workers need a union," said John English, head of AFSCME's New York State field services, at the training session. While the TransCare EMS workers start at higher pay than Local 2507 members, who work for the New York Fire Dept, the city EMS workers overtake the private-sector workers as their careers progress.

And the city EMS workers enjoy a benefits package that is the gold standard for emergency medical service employees nationwide. It includes health-care coverage without premium payments, a pension, a permanent disability benefit that provides workers with three quarters of their salary and a line-of-duty injury policy that gives Local 2507 members up to 18 months of full pay as they recover.

TransCare employees pay hefty contributions (starting out at $75 to $95 a week for individuals and $100 to $270 for families and decreasing to $20 to $45 for individuals and $70 to $190 for families after a year on the job). They are entitled to 84 hours (seven shifts) of holiday pay per year, but they can only use 12 hours of holiday time per month. The modest company match for its 401(k) benefit is up to $10 a week. They work a grueling 12-hour shift.

TransCare provides 911 EMS services for several hospitals, which include Beth Israel, New York University Langone, Mount Sinai, Bronx Lebanon, St. Barnabas, Montefiore and Weiler. Founded in 1993, the company has 2,000 employees.

"We can give these workers a voice," DC 37 Associate Director Henry Garrido told participants at the training. "Let's go get 'em!"

— Gregory N. Heires