In 2021, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams penned a joint op-ed with one of us calling on the city to secure pay parity for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers. It followed an op-ed the two of us co-wrote, demanding an end to the indefensible pay disparities faced by these workers.
Despite now having the power to actually deliver, Mayor Adams has instead turned his back on these frontline workers by failing to advance progress that would pay EMS workers what they deserve.
EMS workers—many of whom are women and people of color—are severely undervalued and underpaid for their lifesaving work. These street doctors deserve better from our city and it’s far past time to provide a fair contract that pays them fair wages.
Low starting salaries make it difficult for the City to recruit and retain EMS personnel, contributing to consistently high attrition rates. As a result, nearly 75% of this workforce has less than five years on the job.
And current members of the workforce struggle to make ends meet due to the low wages, forcing too many to work a second job. One of us knows the experiences of these workers firsthand because our daughter is one of them.
It’s entirely unreasonable for a city worker who is a first responder to emergencies across our neighborhoods to be so severely underpaid. Burnout and a shortage of emergency workers lead to increased response times and more negative outcomes. Our city of 8.5 million people cannot afford a scarcity of lifesaving professionals, as 911 calls are increasing. The consequences can be fatal.
To stabilize the EMS workforce and maintain a reliable emergency response citywide, Mayor Adams must address these outstanding pay disparities by negotiating a fair contract for EMS workers that finally reflects their worth.
As unionized city employees, salary increases for EMS workers can only be achieved through the collective bargaining process controlled by the mayor and his Office of Labor Relations (OLR). Mayor Adams’ administration has failed to provide EMS Local 2507 with a new contract for the past three years, leaving EMTs and paramedics hanging out to dry.
Additionally, the mayor’s Office of Labor Relations refuses to recognize EMS as a uniformed service, preventing them from achieving parity with other first responders, like firefighters and police officers. This disregard and disrespect for EMS workers denies them compensation and benefits extended to other uniformed civil servants.
EMS workers are critical to our collective health and safety, and the Council has been proud to fight with them for pay parity while pursuing ways to increase other support for them.
Year after year, the Council has called for the Administration to increase their wages in our Charter-mandated response to the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget. This year, we urged the Administration to dedicate $50 million to begin addressing the long-standing pay disparities between EMS personnel and their counterparts in both the firefighting ranks and other major U.S. cities.
Despite Mayor Adams’ administration’s continued inaction in providing these essential workers with the contract they deserve, the Council secured $1 million to create a new program that provides mental health support for EMS workers who respond to stressful and difficult situations every day.
Last year, we also passed two new laws (Local Law 60 and Local Law 61) that require the FDNY to provide self-defense training and body armor to keep EMS workers safe.
The Council has consistently spoken out, stood with workers at rallies, and used our oversight.
Despite misleading claims about the Council’s role, we have done everything within our power, without having collective bargaining authority that determines salaries, to support this workforce.
Only the mayor has that power, and he must stop skirting his responsibility to our city’s first responders.
Honoring EMS workers means paying them equitably for their valuable labor. It is a disgrace to call them ‘heroes’ and ‘sheroes’ while refusing to pay them enough to afford to live in the city they serve.
Mayor Adams has spent the last four years hiding behind solutions sitting right in front of him. It’s not too late to do the right thing and support this workforce so New Yorkers can be safe now and in the future.
Adams is the speaker of the City Council and represents District 28 in Queens. Brannan is the Council’s Finance Committee Chair and represents District 47 in Brooklyn.
