Meet-and-confer negotiations between the city and its emergency medical services union – the Austin-Travis County EMS Association – fell apart on Monday. Because the two sides walked away from talks without signing a 30-day extension, it remains unclear if and when they will meet again for another round of negotiations. For now, EMS will continue to operate without the hiring and scheduling provisions inside the contract, which expired at midnight on Tuesday morning.
Union president Tony Marquardt said he was “really disappointed” in the dissolution. “I just know our membership works really hard day in and day out,” he said. “I had hoped for a lot more. I had hoped that the City Manager and the bargaining team appreciated what [medics] do and what we were trying to do on their behalf to build up stability and make our workforce more stable to do the things they do best. And that didn’t happen.”
After a summer spent negotiating, the two sides went into three days of mediation at odds over several outstanding articles, including pay. Labor Relations Officer Larry Watts said the two sides were able to whittle a $13 million gap down to $8 million over the course of two days of discussions. The third day got derailed, he said, when the union’s negotiating team said it needed an extension so that it could prepare another wage proposal. The city wanted to stay late into the night on Monday to finish the deal, though, and wouldn’t agree to that. The two sides parted without an agreement being made.
“In the end, we had a 10-and-a-half percent offer on the table,” said Watts, qualifying that the figure included the total package and not simply across-the-board pay. “We did disagree that we were going to give them the amount of money that they wanted. However, it is important to know that virtually every issue regarding economics we agreed to make offers on: shift differential, increased education pay, increased stand-by pay. So everything that they raised we responded to.”
Marquardt said union members will still have certain protections kept in place by civil service, and legal representation and administrative support through CLEAT, of which it is an affiliate. “And I think we have the support of City Council,” he said. “With those things, hopefully we’ll get through this.”
“Is this the worst place we’ve ever been? I can’t say that either.”
Council is expected to receive an update on the matter on Thursday. Check this week’s issue for more on the fallout.
This article appears in October 27 • 2017.