By Jim Johnson
Herald Salinas Bureau
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. — A complaint against American Medical Response has been filed by the National Labor Relations Board. It alleges unfair labor practices in connection with staffing changes the ambulance provider made to its Monterey County operation.
The complaint alleges AMR in March reduced the hours of 11 full-time employees to part-time or float positions without reaching an agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4513 and without first bargaining to an impasse in ongoing contract negotiations.
The complaint notes that AMR’s actions are a “mandatory subject” under collective bargaining.
The complaint seeks to require AMR to reinstate the employees to their previous full-time positions and to provide them with back pay and other compensation.
A hearing has been set for July 15 before an administrative law judge at the labor board’s Oakland regional office. AMR has 14 days to respond to the complaint.
Union President Chris Otherson said it filed charges against AMR with the labor board because the company effectively laid off the workers by cutting their hours and benefits.
Otherson, a local ambulance paramedic since 2002, said six full-time employees were immediately switched to part-time March 7, and five more were transferred to “float” positions, which move between field work and office duties. He said the company has indicated it will move the float positions to part-time June 1.
“We definitely feel forcing employees from full-time to part-time without benefits is a layoff issue,” Otherson said.
AMR General Manager Doug Petrick said the company notified the union about the staffing changes, met with union representatives about the issue and even postponed the changes for more than a month, but was unable to reach an agreement.
“We believe we met the legal requirements of meeting and conferring (with the union) about the impact” of the staff changes, Petrick said.
Otherson said AMR representatives met with the union once to discuss the proposed staffing changes before “declaring an impasse.” But he said the company is not allowed to declare an impasse on a single bargaining issue.
Petrick said the ambulance company made the staffing changes as part of a reorganization aimed at meeting the terms of the new county emergency medical transport contract, approved in December, without raising rates. Petrick said company officials told county representatives they could avoid higher rates through staffing and other changes.
AMR nearly doubled local ambulance rates, now among the highest in the nation, when it took over emergency medical transport service on a temporary basis in summer 2008.
Petrick said more than half the staffing changes were made as a result of cutting back on full-time critical care transport service, which provided a fully staffed ambulance to transport critical patients from one hospital to another. The rest were part of a revised deployment plan implemented under the new contract.
Otherson said he believes AMR pulled two ambulances off the road, in addition to the reduced critical care transport service. He said the changes likely will result in slower response.
“No matter what, when you reduce the number of ambulances on the road, response times take longer,” he said.
Petrick said the company waited until after the new contract was in place to make the staff changes because it promised not to do so while providing service under the interim contract. AMR took over after Westmed Ambulance bowed out early because of financial issues.
AMR’s contract runs for five years, with the option of five one-year extensions.
Petrick acknowledged tension between AMR and the union but said relations are “always strained” during contract negotiations. He said the two sides remain divided on some key issues that must be resolved before a new contract agreement can be finished.
Otherson said ambulance employees, many of whom have worked for AMR during both its local stints and for Westmed, are looking for support from county supervisors on labor issues.
He said AMR has taken aim at the union since taking over local service, choosing not to re-hire three top union representatives and successfully negotiating an end to all the remaining employees’ seniority benefits.
“Ultimately, this is about the morale of this work force and how long people have to wait for an ambulance,” he said.
Copyright 2010 The Monterey County Herald