San Diego

A City Council committee has recommended a $65 rate increase for the ambulance company that provides paramedic service to the city but rejected a request for a two-year extension of the city’s contract with the company.

The rejection by the Public Services and Safety Committee of the extension proposed by Hartson Medical Services raises the possibility of a paramedic strike as early as next month.

Paramedic union leaders had sided with the ambulance company and favored the extension so both sides can make final a recently negotiated three-year labor contract. The city’s agreement with Hartson expires June 30, 1991.

Hartson and the Service Employees International Union, Local 102, which represents paramedics, wanted the two-year extension so it could coincide with the scheduled end of the tentative labor contract settlement.

However, the committee said that its staff needs two months to study the extension request. The City Council is expected to make a final decision next week. Union leaders said paramedics will also vote on the contract next week but may reject it unless the council approves the extension. If the pact is rejected, paramedics could strike, union leaders said.

The $65 rate increase approved by the committee brings Hartson’s average ambulance charge up to $347 a trip. Company officials had asked for a $145 increase. The increase is necessary to pay a 21% pay increase negotiated by the union for paramedics, Hartson officials said.