EMs unions seek info to make their case
After Arroyo’s death, EMS Locals 2507 and 3621 picked up the fight again — part of an ongoing battle to get City Hall to recognize their members as uniformed first responders, not civilian workers.
Last month, the two unions secured state legislation that now gives EMS members line-of-duty death benefits so workers no longer have to rely on mayoral discretion, said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507.
“This law is one more example of how we are recognized by the state as a uniformed service, yet the city refuses to acknowledge that,” Barzilay said.
But that step forward is still not enough for Locals 3621 and 2507, which last week filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court accusing the city and the Fire Department of ignoring or wrongfully denying multiple Freedom of Information Law requests.
The EMS unions — which represent city emergency medical technicians, paramedics, fire inspectors and EMS officers — want information on the pay, rank, gender, race and discipline history on employees across several different uniformed agencies.
They also want the same information — especially the disciplinary records — for the members of their own unions.
Barzilay said the unions’ quest for parity was not to disparage the FDNY and other uniformed agencies, but to convince the city that it’s time to “level the playing field” for fire inspectors and EMS.
The two labor groups argue that their members — 30% female and 56% black, Latino or Asian — are wrongly denied the same pay and benefits as other city workers in comparable titles, and are subjected to more frequent discipline.
“We are seeking to do a statistical analysis of the data to prove what we already know to be true: EMS is substantially underpaid and undervalued as compared to other uniformed counterparts,” said lawyer Yetta Kurland, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the unions.
The lawsuit cites the city, its Department of Administrative Services and the Fire Department for violating the Freedom of Information Law.
A city Law Department spokesman said the suit was under review.
“We will respond spokesman said.
The two unions filed FOILs on May 11, June 19, June 22 and Sept. 8, according to court papers.
The requests sought employment history from Jan. 1, 2007, to the present for employees accordingly,” the of the FDNY, the Sanitation Department, the NYPD and the Correction Department and for Buildings Department inspectors.
The unions also submitted FOILs for all FDNY disciplinary records from Jan. 1, 1996, through Dec. 31, 2016, as well as complaints filed with the agency’s equal employment opportunity office for the same time period.
Some of the FOILs were ignored, and some were denied by the city, which said it can’t release such personal information on municipal employees, according to the lawsuit.
“Mayor de Blasio has stated many times that he is for fairness and equality,” said Local 3621 head Vincent Variale.
“EMS receives far less support, promotional opportunity and tens of thousands less in salary than other city counterparts, many in predominantly male departments that are