On behalf of all my fellow employees that wish to decertify the union.

As you know, several years back there were some AmbuServe EMS workers who wanted a union to protect themselves from the employer. Since the election to unionize the vast majority of employees have moved on. As I understand from speaking with most of you, there still seems to be maybe twenty (20) original employees who were employed here during the unionization election.

Several current employees have stated to me that they never voted for the union to begin with, and they don't want to be union. I did some research and found that the election was held on June 22, 2012 and at the election 39 people voted for the union and 34 people voted against the union.

We are going on Forty-Eight months of being protected by NAGE (formally NEMSA). Since then as I understand it we have bid for shifts based on seniority. Employees lost the ability to request specific days based on educational need, meaning no ability to get a school schedule and then earn money based on working around school schedules.

As I see it for most of you, you got in this business to learn as an EMT and continue your education. That's what I did when I started many years ago. I think this Seniority thing only works for those who are stuck in a job and can’t get out.

As you may not know, there were EMS workers working for other ambulance companies that wanted to protect themselves from their Employer(s) and joined NAGE. Such names include; Priority One, Elite, Rural Metro, MedReach, and the list goes on and on.

Unionization to each of those Organizations were deemed detrimental. Either they went out of business or cancelled services; such as Paramedic Services due to costs. In some cases the companies just shut down and everyone lost their jobs and resulted in zero protection.

I have worked for a handful of good and a couple of bad companies in my over 40 year Career in EMS. My last employer for 12 years was Priority One Medical Transport. I watched that company grow from six counties to well over 25 counties. I also watched the same things that happened to Priority One, happening to AmbuServe. It’s not a good thing as they cease to exist any longer.

I PERSONALLY KNOW MOST OF YOU WANT TO GET RID OF THE UNION AND ARE ANGRY BECAUSE THEY MADE BROKEN PROMISES TO YOU THAT THEY COULDN'T KEEP. IT HAS BEEN FOUR YEARS AND WE ARE NO LONGER WAITING FOR OUR CONTRACT.......OUR EMPTY PROMISES........!

I KNOW AMBUSERVE EMPLOYEES WANT THEIR PERSONAL FREEDOM BACK AND THE RIGHT TO REPRESENT THEMSELF. WE WANT INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION AND MERIT INCREASES AND DO NOT NEED UNION REPRESENTATION!

1. UNION PROMISED INCREASED WAGES

2. UNION PROMISED IMPROVEMENT IN WORKING CONDITIONS

3. UNION PROMISED INCREASED BENEFITS, VACATION PAY, HOLIDAY PAY, PAID CE’S

4. UNION PROMISED DIRECT DEPOSIT

THE UNION HAS BEEN OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATION FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN SOLVING ALL OUR PROBLEMS, RIGHT? HAS ANYTHING REALLY BEEN SOLVED IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?

ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I SEE AS WRONG WITH THIS IS, WHY ARE THE DISPATCHERS IN THE SAME UNION AS THE FIELD EMPLOYEES? DISPATCH IS A COMMAND AND CONTROL FUNCTION, THEY GIVE FIELD UNITS ORDERS TO RESPOND. WHY DID THE UNION DEMAND THEY BE INCLUDED? WHY WON’T THE UNION BUDGE ON THAT?

I CAN’T THINK OF ANY DISPATCH CENTER THAT HAS DISPATCHERS IN THE SAME UNION, THEY MIGHT EXIST BUT IT HAS NO LOGIC.

NO, JUST EMPTY PROMISES.

I AM ASKING FOR YOUR HELP IN DECERTIFYING THIS CRAZINESS, BEFORE THE COLLAPSE OF THIS COMPANY. DON'T THINK THE OTHER WAY, IF SO, ASK YOURSELF THIS ONE QUESTION.

WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE ON MY RESUME IF I HAVE TO PUT ON AN APPLICATION THAT MY LAST EMPLOYER WENT OUT OF BUSINESS?

I HOPE MY AGE AND EXPERIENCE IN LIFE MATTERS, AND WILL SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS ISSUE. I WISH ALL OF YOU THE BEST LUCK AND SUCCESS.

PARAMEDIC JESSE