By Donna J. Miller
Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Copyright 2007 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
Cleveland rescue squad personnel plan to picket in front of City Hall Monday in response to a change in their work days from 12-hour shifts to eight-hour shifts.
Members of the Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees union voted unanimously Friday to announce that they have “no confidence” in EMS Commissioner Ed Eckart, who pushed for the change.
Union President Robert Laux said the switch will result in a 5 percent reduction in wages, an average of $2,500 a year per worker. The cut puts EMS workers’ salaries $6,000 below those of the city’s firefighters and $5,000 below police officers, he said, “when there should be parity.”
Eckart said the switch begins at 7 a.m. Monday and will mean more ambulances on the streets and faster response times. Employees will work six days in a row and get a weekend off every five weeks.
“I understand the union’s concerns. It’s a lifestyle change and a pay cut,” he said. “It’s not an easy decision, but it will save the city a half million dollars a year.”
The annual EMS budget is $22 million.
The new schedule puts 22 rescue squads on the streets between 3 and 11 p.m., the peak hours for calls for help. Under the old schedule, there were 20 squads on duty from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 18 on duty during the second half of the day.
Laux said the union has proposed other changes that would save the city more money, “but they have been rejected.”
Eckart countered that the union’s proposals are not off the table and that discussions will continue.
The current union contract expired March 31. The union includes 272 paramedics, emergency medical technicians and emergency medical dispatchers who have been working 12-hour shifts since 1993.
They plan to gather in front of City Hall at 5 p.m. Monday and attend the City Council meeting that begins at 7 p.m.
“We backed Mayor [Frank] Jackson during his campaign,” Laux said. “We hope he listens to our concerns now.”