Strikes are painful for everyone. In EMS, it affects the line personnel, the management team, and, most importantly, the community.
Both sides must feel they have a lot to lose. For the union, trying to secure not just a livable wage, but one that promotes longevity in the company and allows employees to live normal lives — i.e. buy a home, have a family, save for retirement, all without having to work 80 hours a week or more — is a battle shared by labor groups across the country.
Management has to keep its eyes on the bottom line in order to maintain service while generating revenue. Like it or not, no organization, private or nonprofit, stays open for very long if it loses money.
I’m sure there is a compromise position...somewhere. Bottom line is — given the overall poor revenue stream, known as reimbursement, there’s simply not enough money to go around. That’s not going to change any time soon; indeed, several experts have already predicted that it’ll just continue to worsen.
In the meantime, agencies will have to continue to squeeze “efficiencies” out of the system. Forward-thinking organizations are already evolving to plug more fully into the changing health care system. Labor and management across the country will need to sit down at the table to develop models of service that incorporate day-to-day issues into the bigger picture of EMS service provision.
Otherwise, there’s the big risk of winning the battle, but losing the war. No one wants that.
