DC 37 ‘an obstacle’ to negotiations, head of EMS local says

Since last summer, the president of Local 2507 of District Council 37, Oren Barzilay, has been asking his parent union both in public calls in private communications to begin negotiations with the city’s Office of Labor Relations on a new deal for the EMTs, paramedics and fire protection inspectors he represents. 

To Barzilay’s frustration and consternation, a DC 37 official told him as recently as Jan. 3 that the union had yet to reach out to OLR to kick-start contract talks. 

Barzilay, looking to get his more than 3,000 members significant raises and better benefits, is calling out the parent union for the delay. "DC 37 is being an obstacle to our negotiations,” Barzilay said in a phone interview on Friday. “It’s been extremely frustrating dealing with DC 37 over these past months.” 

Barzilay added that he has many members who are “struggling and living paycheck to paycheck” and that without a new deal members will continue to leave the service in droves. “No matter how much we speak about it there’s no help for FDNY EMS,” he said.  

One significant reason for the delay is that the head of the EMS officers' union, Vincent Variale, has been adamant about not bargaining on a new deal until outstanding issues with the previous contract are resolved. 

Continuing dispute 

A central issue Variale wants settled with regard to the local’s most recent agreement is the salary figure and job responsibilities for a new sergeant EMS position created as a part of that deal but which were not finalized before that contract went into effect. 

Local 2507 represents 90 percent of the FDNY EMS members covered by labor contracts with the city and the union negotiates each deal as a joint bargaining ticket with Local 3621, which represents the other 10 percent of EMS workers. The two locals' most recent contract expired in June 2022.

Local 3621 and OLR held two meetings in early 2023 to try and hammer out the details of the new rank and to solve other outstanding issues but those talks concluded when city labor officials told the union the city would move forward and create the new position despite the lack of an agreement on the position. 

Variale, in an interview on Monday, declined to blame DC 37 for the stalled talks, saying that “if anybody is stalling or preventing negotiations it’s the city.” He said that he and Barzilay agree on the importance of securing a new deal for their members and that the city’s delay in negotiating with Local 3621 over the sergeant position is part of the city’s strategy to “divide and conquer” the unions. 

“We want these sergeant negotiations over with so we can start discussions for the new deal,” Variale said. “If we get this over with, then we can move forward to contract negotiations.”   

The two leaders disagree, however, on whether problems with the previous deal need to be resolved before negotiations for a new agreement commence. 

“The issues with the sergeant position should not stop us from moving forward and dealing with other problems,” Barzilay reaffirmed on Monday. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve gotten to this point and the delay tactics have to stop.” 

DC 37’s director of communications, Thea Setterbo, did not directly reply to Barzilay’s claim that the delay in negotiations was attributable to DC 37, but said that negotiations for EMS involve more than just Local 2507. 

“We are following the process required to bargain on behalf of our members,” she wrote in an email. “As for details regarding the discussions taking place, we don’t negotiate in the press." 

The Office of Labor Relations deferred comment to City Hall. A spokesperson there confirmed that DC 37 had not yet reached out to begin contract talks.

Local 3621 met with OLR several weeks ago, more than seven months after the failed April meeting, to continue “productive,” discussions on issues with the previous deal, Variale said. "Hopefully we can resolve this issue so we can go forward with our contract.” 

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com