President’s Report – February 2020

President’s Report February 5, 2020 

F.P.I Equality Litigation – On January 23, 2020, I, Odell Horton and Darryl Chalmers met with the Firm of Mehri & Skalet to discuss the wage disparity for our Fire Inspectors. While the Firm believes there’s a case, an Industrial Organization expert is also reviewing the case. The firm advised more details will be made available by months end, once info is received we will furnish that to our members.

Contract Negotiations – On Feb 18 the union will have its initial meeting with OLR to begin the lengthy process of negotiations. Our priority has been clear, our members deserve equal pay for equal work. There are many issues that will be addressed during these negotiations, such as wage increases, longevity, differentials for specialty units/positions, annuity increases, etc.

We will discuss this in length once the process begins. Last week the FPI contract committee met to discuss items that the inspectors would need to be addressed at this round of bargaining. This Friday, the EMS contract committee will meet to discuss items that EMS members would need to be addressed at this round of bargaining.

Stay tuned.

FLSA – On February 5, 2020 the Court entered final judgment in the FLSA case on behalf of the EMTs and Paramedics in the amount of $17,780,063.00
to be allocated as follows:
$7,238,513.00 in back pay.
$7,238,513.00 in liquidated damages; and
$3,303,037.00 in attorneys’ fees and expenses pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §216(b).

This judgment follows the plaintiffs’ victory at the three-week trial in October 2019, where the jury found that the plaintiffs performed uncompensated pre- and post-shift work, and that the City had willfully violated the law by not paying the EMTs and Paramedics for performing that unpaid work. 

The City is considering whether to appeal.  If it does, it will delay payment by months, if not more than a year.  Post-judgment interest will begin accruing from today until payment is made. 

EMS NYC Council Hearing – On January 28, 2020 NYC Council
Introduced Bill 1731 – A local law to amend the administrative code, in relation to requiring the fire dept to report annually on emergency medical services personnel resignation.

– Resolution calling for the salaries of New York City Emergency Medical Services personnel to be comparable to New York City’s Firefighters and Police officers.

Thank you to all that came in show of support.

Legislation/Albany – The upcoming year will be challenging while Albany is going thru its changes. However, we will continue to push our legislation to improve the quality of life for our hard-working men and women.

We have begun introducing some of our agenda and have met with numerous policy makers.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be heading to Albany frequently, we will be calling on our members to join us as we work with your assistance on achieving our goals. We will release information such as bill numbers and language once it comes out.

Stay Safe and look out for each other