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To the editor:
How intractable is the question of parity for the Emergency Medical Services within the FDNY?
It's been so bad for so long, that four years ago two elected leaders, then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Council Member Justin Brannan to write in an op ed: "The best way to achieve pay parity for EMS workers is to give them their own independent agency, where they are not an afterthought."
Calls for EMS parity within the FDNY have been blowing in the wind for years. In 2019, they came from the New York Times editorial board and the NYC Council. In 2021, former FDNY Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, who oversaw the merger of EMS into FDNY, summed it up: "We never paid them back for what we promised in the merger would be that they would become equal."
When all urging for fairness within the FDNY is ignored, what's left?
Adams and Brannan answered the question in this way, "Part of responsible governance is acknowledging when something we try simply does not work. We’ve seen enough over the last 25 years to know that the original goals behind merging FDNY and EMS did not materialize. It’s time to undo the merger, and give EMS workers the representation, funding, and professionalism they deserve."
Helen Northmore
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