National Emergency Medical Services Association
Encyclopedia
The National Emergency Medical Services Association (NEMSA or National EMS Association) is a registered labor union and California
non-profit mutual benefit corporation. The bulk of NEMSAs membership consists of emergency medical technician
s (EMTs), paramedics and critical care nurses (CCT-RN) however NEMSA also represents EMS Dispatchers and Call Takers, Vehicle Service Technicians and other EMS related support staff.
NEMSA has continued to represent EMS Professionals and grow, currently representing members working for various ambulance companies in CA, PA, IN, CT, ME, MA, NH.
Some EMS workers in Portland Oregon are critical of NEMSA disclaiming interest in their bargaining unit when the workforce signed petitions to leave NEMSA and join the Teamsters.http://www.lrwarehouse.com/PDF/2007-10/LU_2736.pdf.
Some EMS workers are critical of NEMSA due to an election procedures dispute related to candidate eligibility regarding the 2010 Officer Election.. The dispute involves election procedures including the eligibility and exclusion of people who NEMSA claims were not eligible to run for NEMSA Officehttp://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2010/11/26/internal-power-struggle-torments-union.html.
A grouphttp://www.takebackouremsunion2.org/NoShenanigansTeam.shtml of NEMSA critics known as the "No Shenanigans/Recall Team" participated in actions against NEMSA including filing multiple Department of Labor investigations. Legal action between the DOL and NEMSA is ongoing.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
non-profit mutual benefit corporation. The bulk of NEMSAs membership consists of emergency medical technician
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
s (EMTs), paramedics and critical care nurses (CCT-RN) however NEMSA also represents EMS Dispatchers and Call Takers, Vehicle Service Technicians and other EMS related support staff.
History
The National Emergency Medical Services Association or NEMSA was founded by Torren Colcord and shop stewards within SEIU Local 250 when dissatisfaction of union representation by SEIU led to the creation of an all EMS Union. http://assets.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2004/04/05/story2.html?q=nemsa%20lawsuithttp://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2005/3/22/EMS-Workers-Vote-To-Join-New-Union-Leave-SEIU.aspx?topicID=47. NEMSA's first bargaining unit was made up of Paramedics and EMTs at Oak Valley Hospital District Ambulance in Oakdale California. NEMSA's second bargaining unit was made up of Paramedics in San Mateo California. After a series of elections, NEMSA became the representative for the 2500 person AMR Northern California Bargaining Unit.http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/03/21/daily10.html NEMSA supporters claim that rather than a large union that paid no attention to EMS, they wanted an EMS Union.http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2006/10/09/story6.html.NEMSA has continued to represent EMS Professionals and grow, currently representing members working for various ambulance companies in CA, PA, IN, CT, ME, MA, NH.
Politics
NEMSA claims it does not advocate or recommend specific political candidates or parties, nor participate in politics unrelated to EMS.http://www.nemsausa.org/home_why_list.php?id=14Critics
NEMSA has been criticized by rival unions of “raiding” http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/05/23/business/biz01.txt their members http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2006/4-7-06ATU.html. The definition of a "raid" is when a union attacks another union for new members. NEMSA points out that does not "raid" anyone, rather EMS professionals represented by non-EMS unions http://assets.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/03/03/story7.html, seek out and contact NEMSA and request EMS specific representation and that NEMSA is just responding to requests for representation http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/05/23/business/biz01.txt. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducts secret ballot elections if members of one union want to switch to a new or other union which is how members of prior unions vote to change union representation to NEMSA http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/brochures/engrep.pdf.Some EMS workers in Portland Oregon are critical of NEMSA disclaiming interest in their bargaining unit when the workforce signed petitions to leave NEMSA and join the Teamsters.http://www.lrwarehouse.com/PDF/2007-10/LU_2736.pdf.
Some EMS workers are critical of NEMSA due to an election procedures dispute related to candidate eligibility regarding the 2010 Officer Election.. The dispute involves election procedures including the eligibility and exclusion of people who NEMSA claims were not eligible to run for NEMSA Officehttp://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2010/11/26/internal-power-struggle-torments-union.html.
A grouphttp://www.takebackouremsunion2.org/NoShenanigansTeam.shtml of NEMSA critics known as the "No Shenanigans/Recall Team" participated in actions against NEMSA including filing multiple Department of Labor investigations. Legal action between the DOL and NEMSA is ongoing.