City Is Asked to Chip In on Paramedics’ Wages

City officials will review the labor contract negotiated by Hartson Medical Services and the paramedics’ union before deciding on any subsidy for the company to meet employee wage demands contained in the proposal, said Deputy City Manager Maureen Stapleton.

The final agreement was reached Tuesday by Hartson and the Service Employees International Union, Local 102, which represents about 160 San Diego paramedics. Both sides declined to disclose the size of the rate increase negotiated for paramedics, and Stapleton said the city still does not know how much Hartson will ask for in extra money.

On Tuesday, Glen Roberts, Hartson’s chief executive officer, briefed City Manager John Lockwood on the contract but “did not indicate what the amount will be,” said Stapleton.

“Hartson will provide specifics to the city by the end of the week. At this point, we’re obligated to analyze the proposed wage increase and its potential impact and present the matter to the City Council,” said Stapleton.

Eliseo Medina, president of Local 102, said the new contract “goes a long way to establishing parity” for Hartson paramedics. During the drawn-out negotiations, which began in April, the union said that Hartson paramedics earn 24% less than other county paramedics. Hartson paramedics earn $6.50 to $9.55 an hour.

Emergency medical technicians at Hartson start at $5 an hour, and Medina said the new contract will make them the highest-paid in the county. Paramedics and EMTs are expected to vote on the contract next week, Medina said.

However, Medina said a settlement is “contingent on receiving the pay increases we agreed on.” If the City Council balks at paying for the increases, the union will have to decide on its next move, he added.

The union is already putting pressure on the city to approve and fund the pay raises by announcing that some paramedics may go to work for other local agencies if the City Council does not move on the increases by the end of the month. Medina said the other agencies will begin hiring paramedics in March.

Roberts said he is aware that other agencies will begin hiring paramedics next month and hopes that the city will move quickly on the contract.

Stapleton promised quick action by the city once Hartson indicates how much money the company needs.

“The city is committed, as soon as we receive details of the proposal, to move as quickly as possible and get it through the council,” Stapleton said.

Roberts said the additional revenue could come from a straight subsidy from the city or by the city allowing the company to increase its rates. Hartson has a $6.8-million contract with the city that expires in June, 1991. Under terms of the contract, the city allows the company to charge a patient no more than $281 a call.

“We’ll try to pass the expense of doing business to the people to whom we provide the service. . . . It’ll have to be either some increase in fees or increase in subsidy. We know that subsidies are very hard to come by these days. We always go back to the cities we work for and ask to increase our rates,” Roberts said.