Vice President’s Report
November 18, 2020
Where to begin? Our last official meeting was 8 months ago. How do you summarize the events of the last 8 months? I guess I start with a simple Thank You. Thank you for facing this pandemic with courage, honor, professionalism, and bravery. Let us mourn those who lost their life battling this deadly disease and lets keep in mind those who are still sick from it. It’s no secret we have had to battle the city and department almost every step of the way. From PPE shortages to ever changing policies. During this time I have had a chance to visit every station numerous time, and in true ems fashion the record call volume might have stunned us at first, soon that became the new normal and we moved forward with the same twisted sense of purpose and understanding that this is the profession we have chosen. I implore everyone to remember while seeing some of the most tragic events thrown at humanity is in our job description, your mental health should always remain a number 1 priority. Through CSU, the new peer support system as well as numerous outside resources I want to make sure your mental well-being is a top priority Not only for Us as a union but to each other as well.
We are fighting everyday to get pay we deserve and that will not stop. COVID has been challenging to say the least to have productive meetings. As you can see by this meeting alone and the fact that our international union had to change a constitution to allow virtual meetings. It has made negotiations challenging. To that extent a new contract, hazard pay, and fair compensation for the work we do will always be our goal.
We have had to deal with a complete schedule change over to all 12’s and we understand not everyone is a fan. We will continue to
work on a fair way to move forward.
We are navigating a world with unsure budgets implications. That has led to threats of layoffs which have been averted. Headquarters working from home and limiting phone calls. We are working with the dept to stream line these off line policies and procedures.
With that comes changes to the bits process. Currently anyone who has to deal with bits or EEO in any way will be ordered to the union office to have virtual meetings. This has some great advantages and some disadvantages. While having to deal with any investigation is never pleasant, at least now you get the comfort of your union office instead of headquarters.
There are way more questions still then answers. As this
pandemic progresses we will handle them and do our best to address them. No one knows when the world will get back to normal. Thankfully, in EMS, we’ve never been good with normal.
Stay safe out there!
Michael Greco
Vice President