Hays County EMS Association voted as employee rep of San Marcos Hays County EMS

HAYS COUNTY — The Hays County EMS Association has been declared the official employee representative of San Marcos Hays County EMS (SMHCEMS) after receiving 68% of the votes in a mail-in ballot election.

The union, consisting of several employees of SMHCEMS, started organizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) earlier this year in an effort to address various issues including staff recruitment, turnover and morale. Because Hays County and other areas across the state of Texas have seen exponential growth over the years, medics and EMTs are struggling to find a balance.

The regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set a mail-in ballot election to determine the representative desired by the eligible employees for the purpose of collective bargaining with their employer. Because the SMHCEMS Board of Directors did not choose to voluntarily recognize the Hays County EMS Association by Thursday, May 4, ballots were sent on Friday, May 5. Voters had until May 26 to return their ballots and the NLRB office counted the ballots on Friday, June 2.

Out of 60 valid votes counted, 41 voted in favor of recognition and 19 voted against. There were approximately 85 eligible voters with three void ballots.

“The vote before the NLRB was all eligible employees, which in this case consisted of field staff,” said Tom Maia, organizing committee member. “We achieved recognition. We won our fight. The election results were certified by our chief and the CWA.”

While the union did receive a solid majority, Maia added that there were a few people who did not get the opportunity to vote or have their vote counted. Things that can “eat into your majorities” include people who never received a ballot, like those who live in apartments and their apartment number was not included in their listed address. Ballots are also voided if they are filled out incorrectly.

The next step for the Hays County EMS Association is the bargaining phase and it could take the rest of the year to successfully negotiate a contract with the administration and board of directors, according to Maia.

“The bargaining phase consists of us members of the organizing committee sending out a bargaining survey to all people who opt-in to be a part of the union for them to decide what items they want in a contract,” Maia said. “From the very beginning, contract negotiation topics were never going to be up to the organizing committee members. It's not up to any one person or a small group of people, but we want everyone's involvement.”

Bargaining surveys will consist of iterations of surveys beginning with basic questions that will allow for free response and input on the part of card-carrying union members, Maia explained. As topics are narrowed down, surveys will be handed out later that will give members a certain number of votes to allocate to choices in terms of level of importance.

Maia paid gratitude to all of the supporters in the process to get the Hays County EMS Association off the ground, as it was a group effort.

“Those of us who are members of the organizing committee owe a lot of gratitude to the CWA for helping us get this off the ground. Seth Hutchison and Rose Levy are CWA organizers who were instrumental in our effort. We also have gratitude for Austin Travis County EMS Association, ATCEMS’ union, for offering guidance and general help from when we went public to when we got officially recognized last Friday,” he said. “All of our field staff who voted or at least attempted to vote. They're the most important part of this. Going forward, I'll just reiterate that we look forward to working together closely with our administration, our chief and our board of directors to improve San Marcos Hays County EMS as a place to work, as a place for people to enjoy the profession and to stay. We do see this as an important collaborative effort.”