A Contract: A business agreement with GFES

All of this union talk can sometimes be confusing...

Maybe we can clarify a few things...

A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or contract is the device used by NEMSA to work with your employer.  It is a legal and binding document that comes from negotiation and compromise with your employer.  It covers your wages, benefits, working conditions, and how to disagree in a respectful manner should a conflict arise.  

NEMSA has never driven an employer out of business with a contract.  NEMSA is YOU.  Your contract is YOU.  YOU decide with a member led team how to direct NEMSA Attorneys and staff in negotiating with your employer.  When NEMSA and your employer agree on everything presented, and it is ratified by vote of your bargaining unit, YOU have a contract.

A contract is a business agreement between NEMSA (your bargaining unit) and GFES.  The content is decided by YOU and GFES.  Terms, wages, benefits, etc.. are decided by YOU and GFES.  Seniority, scheduling, flexibility are decided by YOU and GFES.  

Contracts are truly a symbiotic thing.  Both sides need each other to survive.  It makes both sides work together for the common good.

A touching moment:  At the end of Northern California Contract Negotiations 2 weeks ago, the bargaining team went into the conference room where management representatives were and told them that "We have a contract."  They then proceeded to shake hands and hug members of management.  After 22 sessions, including some rather heated moments, both sides had reached a deal and had mutual respect and affection for each other.

Why does GFES fear a contract?

Employers who have never had a union contract before fear union contracts because they are forced to act consistently while under a contract.  They can't pay person X more than person Y just because.  They can't assign mandatory overtime outside of the rules agreed to.  They can't favor one employee over another.

Employers who have never had a union contract don't know what they are missing.  Predictability, accountability, mutual respect, a working relationship to solve problems all come from union contracts.

Contracts are business, not personal.  And GFES has a legal requirement to negotiate in good faith with NEMSA once elected.  

The EMS Professionals at GFES have nothing to fear from a union contract, and neither does GFES.  They just don't know it yet.

Vote for NEMSA and see what a NEMSA contract can do for you!