AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Emergency Medical Services Association (AEMSA) voted to approve a new labor agreement with the City of Austin on Monday, and the city council gave it final approval on Thursday.
The two sides originally agreed to a tentative agreement in late August. The union said its goal was to provide medics in Austin with higher pay and to address the issues with recruitment and retention.
Union president Selena Xie told KVUE in August that EMS had been seeing high call volumes with an already short staff and she hoped that the new deal would help alleviate some of those problems.
The agreement includes a 4% raise for all current employees and a base rate of over $24 for entry-level medics. To help with retention, the most tenured employees will see upwards of 14.5% in raises in Year 1.
The Austin City Council approved the agreement on consent at its meeting on Thursday.
“We recognize that the high vacancy rate in our EMS department is not sustainable for our community or our employees. This contract utilizes broad strategies to address both hiring and retention," Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said about the deal.
“We are particularly pleased with the outcomes of these negotiations. AEMSA’s bargaining unit was willing to look at issues and work jointly with the City to find solutions in the best interest of the employees they represent, the City and the community they serve," said Sarah Griffin, the City's lead negotiator.
"The caliber of professionals at ATCEMS [Austin-Travis County EMS] are unmatched in this industry, and this agreement is a great step forward in recognizing their hard work, professionalism, commitment to the community and unrivaled clinical excellence that the residents of Austin are accustomed to," ATCEMS Chief Robert Luckritz said about the deal. “I am thrilled that the City and our Employees Association have come to a long-term agreement. I believe the new agreement will help us to not only increase recruitment of new employees but will also allow us to focus on improving retention of our more tenured personnel."