February 08, 2018
Local 167 and AHEMS met again today to try and work out a Tentative Agreement for a new Contract. We were not successful. After 9+ hours of work, AHEMS presented us with a Final Offer. We agreed to bring this Offer forward to the membership for a vote. The IAEP Negotiating committee does NOT support it.
This Offer includes some seniority improvements along with other non economic gains.
This Offer includes a Primary Call provision. Primary call would mean that everyone under 25 years of service must bid an extra day every two months (6 shifts per year), including mandatory weekends. Those over 25 years of service will be required to work (4 shifts per year). You would bid a 12 hour period, either days or nights, and then be responsible for being on-call for that period anywhere in the Metro. This provision would include a small amount of hourly pay for being on-call at the current contract wage of $4.50/hr for unrestricted on-call pay and your hourly wage or OT once called in.
The Offer also includes varying per cent increases for start to step 4 and 2% across the board raises to steps 5-12, a bonus for extra weekend shifts, and additional seniority steps at 15 and 20 years. Despite some favorable additions we do not feel that this offer meets the needs of the majority of our Membership. We do not feel that any Offer that asks people to donate additional time, even for nominal compensation, is worth putting in a Contract. We will be asking Members to vote NO on this Offer.
We are also looking at setting up meetings for ratification voting next week. Stay tuned for more information.
Your Negotiating Team,