EMS union still seeks voluntary recognition

HAYS COUNTY — The Hays County EMS Association, composed of approximately 80 employees of San Marcos Hays County EMS (SMHCEMS), is still waiting in hopes of getting voluntarily recognized.

The regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has set a mail ballot election for the purposes of collective bargaining; if enough votes are cast in favor, SMHCEMS will have to recognize the Hays County EMS Association as a union. If the union does not get voluntarily recognized by the SMHCEMS Board of Directors by the afternoon of Thursday, May 4, mail-in ballots will be sent on Friday, May 5. Voters will have until May 26 to return their ballots and the NLRB office will count the ballots on Friday, June 2 by videoconference.

Eligible voters are all full-time and regular part-time EMTs, paramedics and lieutenants of SMHCEMS who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding April 25.

At a special meeting on Monday, May 1, the SMHCEMS Board of Directors did not take any action following more than an hour-long executive session.

“At this time, we are on track for the election and that’s where we are headed,” said Hays County Commissioner Lon Shell, who also sits on the board.

Tom Maia of the Hays County EMS Association said they have been aiming for voluntary recognition to be able to include some of the mid-level supervisors for their workforce in the union.

“That would include our captains [and] battalion chiefs. Those personnel essentially function as field commanders, they don't run ambulances, but they run standard units and they operate [similar to] shift supervisors, they've got extra equipment and they can help us during really critical calls,” Maia said. “They do exercise some authority over staff scheduling, as well as employee discipline and termination. Because they're mid-level supervisors, there was a question of whether they are allowed to participate in collective bargaining themselves. Under voluntary recognition, we'd be able to pull them in, [but] under NLRB rules, they would not be able to participate in an election. Going the NLRB route, while it grants us a certain amount of power and leverage, it leaves out people that we feel should be included.”

Maia added that voluntary recognition is the cheapest, fastest and easiest route to go.

“If you go the route of voluntary recognition, then [you're] starting off on a good foot between employees and employer. The more prolonged this gets, the more money is spent by the agency — money that can be better put to fuel costs for the agency and better employee programs and benefits,” he said. “Even though going the route of a nationally proctored election could make us a very powerful union, it leaves [out] people in our agency who we like and we feel deserve to be included in the process.”

According to the American Ambulance Association, voluntary and overall turnover increased for 2022, with the turnover rate being in the 20- to 36% range for EMTs and paramedics, which is a 6% increase over the previous year. EMS agencies are experiencing a full turnover of all staff every 3-4 years.

The Hays County EMS Association started the process of working with Communication Workers of America, a national communications and media labor union, earlier this year in an effort to address staff recruitment, turnover and morale.

“I think it's important for the public to know that medics and EMTs who serve them work extremely hard and have been hit by a lot of chronic stressors, burnout and turnover over the years. The collective bargaining process is just a way for first responders to make sure that they are protected as employees and that they are given the same basic protections as most office workers and people who work from home,” Maia said. “This is a difficult job, I don't think most people would dispute that and public 911 response, any kind of public service involving emergency medical aid is a difficult job. When the medics and EMTs who serve your community are seeking collective bargaining, they are seeking the basic respect that we think everyone should be afforded.”

The SMHCEMS Board of Directors still has until the afternoon of Thursday, May 4 to voluntarily recognize the union.

This is a developing story. The Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch will continue to update the public as more information becomes available.