Saarland
08-07-2006, 11:40 AM
The 2600 paramedics and EMT's of American Medical Response, the largest private ambulance service provider in the nation and providing exclusive 911 ambulance emergency response in northern California, have voted last Tuesday to strike if AMR management does not adress health insurance issues raised the employees and their union, the National EMS Association (www.NEMSAUSA.org).
Although the strike vote was passed by a narrow margin, 8 votes, it is common in the emergency services industry that workers will not cross the "blue line" and will rally behind their colleagues, as has been done in the past by firefighters, police officers and most recently, by nurses in California.
Union officials are confident that AMR will return to the bargaining table because AMR has much to lose. At stake are not only countless 911 emergency response contracts the company has with 21 individual counties throughout northern California but also hospital systems contracts, such as the exclusive ambulance transport contract between Kaiser permanente hospitals and AMR, that are the real "bread and butter" of AMR's overall earnings.
Because of AMR's size in the northern California ambulance market, any subcontracting with another ambulance provider during a strike is unlikely. There is no single private provider large enough to fulfill AMR's contractual agreements and smaller providers will also be unable to come to AMR's rescue due to incompatibale communications equipment.
As of today's NYSE's closing, EMSC's stock (EMS) has not yet reacted to the possibility of a general strike of the 911 paramedic system in northern California. That however may change this week if the parties cannot agree on the health insurance matter and the union is forced to issue a ten day strike notice.
Although the strike vote was passed by a narrow margin, 8 votes, it is common in the emergency services industry that workers will not cross the "blue line" and will rally behind their colleagues, as has been done in the past by firefighters, police officers and most recently, by nurses in California.
Union officials are confident that AMR will return to the bargaining table because AMR has much to lose. At stake are not only countless 911 emergency response contracts the company has with 21 individual counties throughout northern California but also hospital systems contracts, such as the exclusive ambulance transport contract between Kaiser permanente hospitals and AMR, that are the real "bread and butter" of AMR's overall earnings.
Because of AMR's size in the northern California ambulance market, any subcontracting with another ambulance provider during a strike is unlikely. There is no single private provider large enough to fulfill AMR's contractual agreements and smaller providers will also be unable to come to AMR's rescue due to incompatibale communications equipment.
As of today's NYSE's closing, EMSC's stock (EMS) has not yet reacted to the possibility of a general strike of the 911 paramedic system in northern California. That however may change this week if the parties cannot agree on the health insurance matter and the union is forced to issue a ten day strike notice.