AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin and the Austin EMS Association signed a one-year labor contract on Thursday after the Austin City Council approved the document.
Leaders from both sides of the negotiations met after the City's approval to formally sign the agreement. It will go into effect on Oct. 1.
The one-year agreement was reached in late August.
"This agreement, which increases starting pay for EMTs and paramedics, allows us to aggressively focus on recruitment and retention over the next 12 months," said Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk, who has acknowledged the serious staffing shortage facing the City.
The president of the EMS union, Selena Xie, said this was the best agreement they could come to for now and added that there are still plenty of things to address in future contracts.
"The City definitely recognizes and it's hard to ignore that we're in an absolute staffing crisis. And, so, they're really focused on how do we recruit more people. And I think what we still need to work on is how do you retain people," Xie said.
The $4.2 million wage proposal includes pay raises that range from 4% to 11.2% depending on position and tenure. The City said the new agreement will allow it to hire experienced paramedics directly into the rank of paramedic to address the ongoing staffing shortage.
Here is a look at the wage proposal in the tentative agreement:
- Starting pay for EMTs – the entry-level position – will increase by 12.5%, to $22 an hour
- Starting pay for paramedics – which rank higher than EMTs – will increase by 11.2%, to $30.03 an hour
- All current employees will receive a pay increase ranging from 4% to 11.2% depending on position and tenure
“I am very pleased that the City and EMS Association have come to a tentative agreement. This agreement will allow us to continue to focus on recruitment and retention of our sworn staff through improvement of their quality of life, while helping us enhance the already exceptional care provided by our Austin-Travis County EMS clinicians to the residents and visitors of Austin and Travis County,” EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said when the tentative agreement was reaching in August.
Deven Desai, chief labor relations officer for the City of Austin, said the agreement addresses the financial pressures EMS medics face.
"This agreement responds directly to the very real financial pressures facing many EMS medics by providing $4.2 million in additional pay over the next year, while also balancing the City’s responsibility to our taxpayers,” Desai said in part.
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