Dear Fellow EMS Worker
If you are anything like me, you work in EMS because you take pride in caring for people. In an ideal world, we would work our shifts with a minimum of interference and collect a paycheck that reflects our considerable knowledge and skill. But the sober reality is that the business interest of our employers often stand in direct competition with the interests of the labor force. As in many industries, EMS professionals rely on the strength of unions to ensure fair treatment and compensation in the workplace.
When NEMSA first came to my county I actively campaigned against them during a long and contentious election. I was extremely wary of a new, unproven labor union who's numbers could not match those of older, larger umbrella labor organizations.
Ultimately, my group got outvoted and I had to choose to join NEMSA or be left behind. But what I wasn't prepared for was how incredibly exciting it would be to participate in the process of building a core of worker solidarity from the ground up. I watched as our numbers swelled, from a few hundred people in a handful of bargaining units to over 5500 across the nation. I witnessed NEMSA gain strength and experience as it negotiated impressive contracts all over the country.
In spring of 2008, I had the privilege of representing my county alongside 21 other chief stewards in a wildly successful round of contract negotiations for our bargaining unit. The negotiations resulted in one of the best EMS contracts in the United States. It was a profoundly empowering experience and it instilled in my mind something that I should have realized all along: NEMSA isn't an abstraction. It isn't a faceless organization. NEMSA is US, you and me and EMS workers all over the country who know that our greatest strength comes from the alliances we foster with one another.
I invite you to become part of the US. I invite you to join NEMSA today.
In solidarity,
Megan McNamara
Chief Shop Steward, Santa Cruz County, CA
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