By EMS1 Staff
SEATTLE — Seattle EMTs intend to strike soon after rejecting AMR’s latest contract proposal.
My Northwest reported that AMR’s “last and final offer” would have paid new employees $17 an hour, according to an anonymous EMT.
The Teamster’s union’s final counter-offer asked for $17.50 an hour for EMTs and $18.50 after six months on the job.”
The EMTs intend to strike at noon on Dec. 21, and AMR is now planning to hire hundreds of temporary EMTs to take their place.
“As the nation’s largest provider of private EMS services in the country, AMR is prepared to ensure that there is little or no impact on King County EMS as a result of the Strike,” AMR said in a statement.
AMR added that the EMTs are trying to get a salary that is equal to their counterparts in San Francisco, which they said is “one of the nation’s largest 911 systems.”
The company added that Seattle EMTs do not provide on-site medical care like San Francisco EMTs do and are largely used to transport non-life-threatening patients to the hospital.