Has IAEP forgotten their Local 1? I think so. We still do not have our final contract which means that we are not able to resolve issued with AMR. Thanks again Mike for blowing us off. As for trying to make Waltham Rescue members give up their shift for other members that you initially did not aid in their fight against AMR. I work in the Metro Division and live in NH farther away than Rindge. There are many of us. Are you going to find places for us in Mancheser so that we can do transfers and sit around while AMR loses all the contracts? Don't waste our time. You don't listen to your membership and honestly most people in the Local 1 feel we would be better off with a different union or no union at all. Why is that? Because we are sick and tired to paying dues to an organization who does nothing. If I wanted to throw my money away I would buy lottery tickets. I might do much better for myself. As for your comments about us to the people in CA. You are very unprofessional and pathetic. I find it interesting that you are advising that AMR is looking to sell. They have been trying to do that since 1999. Maybe you should stay on time on current events. I hope you don't promise gold to the members in CA and then present them with your fools gold. Many of us at the Local 1 are currently reviewing our options while you are away. Regards, Karen Dion BS NREMT-P (licensed in CT,RI,ME.MA & NH. Lead Education Coordinator for the North Shore of MA and FTO). Just one of those dumb whiners in the Local 1 in MA Metro division.
Yes, AMR has been up for sale for a long time. But now there is a serious buyer. Recheck your current events. Also, if your contract stinks, why did you vote for it? If your rep is so bad, why don't you vote in a new one? With NEMSA, Torren runs the show. He is your president. Who voted for him??? When AMR sells, NEMSA has no protection to speak of against the new owner from cleaning house. NEMSA is a BUSINESS, not a union. If they fail and go bankrupt, YOU WILL HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL. TORREN is making a PROFIT off of the members. Vote for IAEP, let AMR sell, KEEP YOUR CONTRACT (NEMSA cannot protect you if AMR is sold), and wait for your next contract and vote out the people that suck or vote NEMSA (if they are still around), or both. Your contract with IAEP is the ONLY thing that can save you right now. All of you at local 1 have a contract, the people here in CA will lose their current contract if the do not vote for IAEP. They will then be left alone with no one to protect them against AMR or whoever takes over the company.
How do you people operate over there? I understand that one local controls 5+ divisions. See if you can do it like we do here. Have one local control ONE division. This way, every area gets what they need instead of the biggest division making decisions for everyone else.
P.S. your contract was ratified in March.... Also, if AMR loses contracts, that is because AMR sucks. We all know that.
I voted against our contract. Our Negotiating team waited til last moment to start working towards the contract. It was voted in in March and still has yet been sent to the members. They are still trying to work out language. (I think that needed to be done during negotiations). I agree with you that the Local 1 covers too much area and states with too many differences. MA has a different pay scale from NH & ME. When we lost RI this year the union did very little for our employees. (Most moved on to other companies). The reason our contract was approved is that Mike called all the BLS members (He said he called everyone, but many of us are still waiting for the phone call) and told them to vote yes for it was the best contract available. We lost on our retro pay and we ended up with less than our first contract that we turned down. As for AMR, don't get me started on the marketing or lack of. We have lost too much in a very short time period and continue to make stupid mistakes which will cost us more in the future. I have worked in different divisions (states) of AMR with different unions and I have worked at different companies with and without unions. AMR is no different than anyone else. The only thing AMR, IAEP, SEIU or anyone else care about is the mighty dollar. Regards, Karen Dion BS NREMT-P
Isn't it interesting how AMR has tried to keep its pending sale secret? Up until yesterday afternoon, every management person I spoke with flat out denied that AMR is to be sold. If I were about to buy a company, I would pay much more for a company where labor was divided and had no contract if force, rather than a company where labor had representation and an existing contract. AMR clearly wants us to vote in NEMSA. Think about it... If we vote in NEMSA, while our working conditions will not immediatley change, AMR, (or our new parent company) can force us to bargain an entirely new contract, and risk losing everything we have gained over the past 10 years. With IAEP our existing contract with all of its many benefits will remain intact including the right to arbitration.
AMR has been for sale on and off for over eight years...you're not really jumping on this band wagon? AMR is for sale, I doubt that 15% of AMR's work force is going to dicate the sale of a billion dollar company. But, you'll believe what you want...I guess. Good luck!
While it's true AMR has been for sale off and on over the past few years, it is now being auctioned off. 4 investment firms have placed initial bids, and a second round of bidding is due next month. So, this is not a 'band wagon' I'm jumping on, it's merly a fact of life.
quote: Originally posted by: RNmedic "While it's true AMR has been for sale off and on over the past few years, it is now being auctioned off. 4 investment firms have placed initial bids, and a second round of bidding is due next month. So, this is not a 'band wagon' I'm jumping on, it's merly a fact of life. Roland"
So what is your point Roland Guy? So what AMR is for sale, and in case you missed it in Business 101. Multi-million dollar sales are usually made via an auction house. No big deal, right?
Your almost one semester at the Junior college has done you well. Since you are obviously a well educated and rounded man in the business world, why don't you tell us exactly how California, non-profit mutual benefit corporations work; what they are required to do under the law and what fiduciary responsibilities do the officers have to their members? Since you have obviously had great deal of expertise in the field of business.
While you’re at it why don't you educate us all on the department of labor registration process for labor organizations and what Hudson and Beck reporting is.
We are all inspired by your great wisdom and vast knowledge. You must know so much; after all, you are about to finish paramedic school and that makes you one smart guy. It also qualifies you as a business expert and an authority on labor law
Take care and keep posting
I have this funny feeling that these are not the only areas that your extensive intellect will take us.
I was in Boston recently. I took the liberty to ask many employees represented by Local 1 a few questions. What I found out was that IAEP is indeed their union. The members are envious of the Boston Police union that also represents the public EMS ambulance service. Appearantly the public EMS have a little more political pull to have their employees paid a whopping forty six thousand dollars a year. That is little money for Boston. But, there you have it. The private paramedics wishing they had as good a salary and benefit package as the public sector. One problem. Outsourcing. Some like to call it subcontracting. The public EMS is threatened by private EMS taking certain jurisdictions due to cost savings for the City of Boston-the premiere liberal city in the USA.
The core contract for Northern California has provisions to protect against subcontracting. That was language that Sal demanded exist in the contract. I remember negotiations took a very long time because of that language. Nobody has lost a jurisdiction since that language was put into effect. The employees wanted to fight for wages. Sal wanted language to protect against subcontracting. It was in our best interests because it did not allow for outsourcing and has protected our jobs.
I did not run into anybody that despised Local 1 or their president. There were people that were bummed out that they had to cover some costs of their short term disability. Others did not like losing the grievance on write ups. They did make it clear that your record is automatically purged in nine months. Some folks feel that the posting is excessive and they would like some creature comforts in the work place.
All in all. I was in Boston for over a week and spoke to more ambulance crews than I normally speak to in a week. Nobody had heard of NEMSA. Nobody knew about a decertification of SEIU in California. The decert had a few of the senior people (>10 years) upset because they do depend on a distant form of parity with the San Francisco Bay Area since the cost of living is similiar.
