I visited a NEMSA informational meeting in Stockton a few weeks ago.  It consisted of many NEMSA staff persons and supporters, a groupd of employees, a couple IAEP guys, a 250 rep, and myself.  At one point during the discussion, Torren felt compelled to explain what the facts were about the situation in CoCo.  He stated that what L250 was doing there, was not only completely screwing AMR, but also screwing the employees.  He stated that everything L250 was doing, was completely against what the members in CoCo wanted.  I found this odd, because why would L250 just want to go out and screw people for now reason?  What was the benefit for them?  When the 250 rep at the meeting began to explain what was going on, he was told by Torren and a few other NEMSA supporters that he was lying, and that in fact the members in CoCo were very upset at what was going on.  I was very frustrated by this, because every interaction concerning L250 I have had with CoCo employees was a positive one.  From what I have been told, rank and file members were behind many of the moves there.  I felt very bad for the 250 rep at the meeting in Stockton, he was ganged up on, and made to look like a liar.  The most frustrating part was the effect of Torren on the other employees, people were joining in on heckling the 250 rep, and they had absolutely no idea what they were talking about!  The spin about CoCo county was a big one by NEMSA, and it was very unfair.  They definitely saw an oppurtunity to make L250 look bad, but what they forgot was that there are a few hundered employees there who can attest to what the feeling really is.  Like Brad said, NEMSA has no right to even comment on what is fair there.  What is fair is letting the employees voice their concern.  Letting AMR get away with whatever they want, is not fair.  I' glad that you guys are making progress there, even if it means rattling AMR a bit.  I am also glad to see that when it is need, we can get help from other AFL-CIO affiliated unions such as the IAFF.  Even though we may not agree on some issues, it is important to come together on others, thanks for your interest in keeping the rest of us informed Rod!  Keep it up!

-nate

Right on Brad. I support this platform. We need a meeting of the minds from every county, hash out the misinformation continung to be spread, so these people can squash these lies immediately in the form of newsletters or whatever works. These "braggarts" have made it clear they will tear this down, and we can't let them sap our energy and distract us from the important tasks on the horizon. It is evident that they outrightly behave in the manner they always accused 250 of. What B.S.

Nate,

Thanks for your comments. It been hard on me, as well as Bill Bower, to sit back and read all this nonsense spewed from NEMSA. I believe Bill "checked out" as far as keeping up on the forum comments.

Which brings me to the next point, or person, that NEMSA has decided to trash. Bill Bower is, by no means, a saint. Neither am I. Despite all the name calling I have seen directed at him, I have not seen him once trash any one of the NEMSA people publicly like that. He knew that there would be a time of reckoning, and that all the sarcasm and attacks would need to be paid for in some way or another. He is right. Look where we are right now, miles and miles apart. We will be paying that bill for some time to come. I have seen many comments about "Where's Bill" and yadda yadda yadda. He's been with us the entire time. He chose not to get into immature name-calling fights. He helped to organize the vote, with SEIU being his obvious choice. He has been heavily involved with the RFP process in our county, which has been a full-time job for both of us. His hard work has paid off. NEMSA had to attack Bill, it was their only chance. They had to attack the infrastructure of SEIU, so Bill was a likely target. NEMSA knew they would never have a chance in hell if they didn't do this. Trust me, there were meetings at the NEMSA HQ (aka the Hummer), on how best to carry out attacks on him, as well as Borsos and Martin.

They have lost the election and still Torren cannot accept it, so on with the spin. It's okay, soon we will all be very busy with organizing our new local, and his continued attack on my county will be nothing more than a fart in the wind. We will be too busy to care.

I do have my concerns for San Mateo. They have no bargaining power whatsoever, now that NEMSA has lost. They go into their contract negotiations with no clout whatsoever. I can't help but wonder how many people in San Mateo wished they could take back their NEMSA vote for an IAEP one. I hope Torren stays true to his comments about how good his one lawyer is. All I can think of right now is the turmoil NEMSA is currently in, knowing they lost and will have very little monies coming in. I hope they can afford to retain their lawyer, for the sake of our sister and brother EMT's/Paramedics there. I can easily see Tim and Torren being the only staff from NEMSA at this negotiation.

Thank you,

Rod Billings, Shop Steward, AMR CoCo Operations