Hartson Settlement Hinges on City Help

Representatives of Hartson Medical Services and the union representing its paramedics are expected to meet with city officials today to ask for more money so the company can settle a tentative agreement on a labor contract reached at 7 a.m. Monday after an all-night bargaining session.

The agreement averts a strike scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Wednesday by the Service Employees International Union, Local 102. The union represents about 160 paramedics employed by the city of San Diego and has been bargaining with Hartson since April. If approved, the contract will be the first achieved through collective bargaining for paramedics in the city.

Any agreement will have to be reviewed by the city manager’s office. On Monday, a source familiar with the contract talks who did not want to be identified said both sides will try to meet with Deputy City Manager Maureen Stapleton and other city officials today, brief them on the agreement, and make a pitch for the extra funds.

The source said that Hartson and Local 102 have not agreed on the size of the pay increase for paramedics, but added that “the differences are not insurmountable at this point” and predicted that both sides will probably agree today. Spokeswomen for Hartson and Local 102 said that both sides will issue a joint statement today on the settlement.

“There was a lot of progress made. Essentially, both sides reached agreement on a new contract, but it’s not formal yet. There’s still a very important issue that has to be discussed with the city,” said the source.

That issue is how to get the money needed to meet the paramedics’ demand for a pay increase, he added. Both sides hope that the city will agree to modify its contract with Hartson and give the company more money to meet the paramedics’ demands.

Last month, Local 102 president Eliseo Medina and Hartson Chief Executive Officer Glen Roberts said the company would probably have to seek a subsidy from the City Council to raise employee salaries. Hartson has a $6.8-million paramedic contract with San Diego that expires in June, 1991.

Hartson paramedics earn $6.50 to $9.55 an hour, and emergency medical technicians start at $5 an hour. The union said that Hartson paramedics are the lowest-paid in the county, earning an average 24% less than others. Union officials declined to comment on their wage demands, except to say that their bargaining team was asking $8 an hour as a starting wage for paramedics.