Phoenix (AZ Family) — Many Arizona paramedics are unhappy with their employers.

The ambulance crew Maricopa Ambulance They say their collective bargaining agreement expired nine months ago.

The local ambulance crew union IAFF Local I-60said they are essentially bound to the same contract with the same pay starting in 2020.

Shorter work hours, better wages and improved working conditions are just some of the things Maricopa Ambulance paramedics are asking for.

The union has been trying to negotiate since December last year, and now workers want to take to the picket line.

“This is white-collar versus blue-collar. It's a battle between the employer and the frontline worker,” said Noel Tuttle, vice president of the paramedic union, Local I-60, which represents about 300 paramedics employed by Maricopa Ambulance.

Tuttle himself is a paramedic in Glendale.

“We're surviving on 2020 wages, so in the midst of COVID and a surge in inflation, our agreement is based on the 2020 economy. We get raises every year, but they're minimal,” he said.

Tuttle explained that the union's collective bargaining agreement — a contract between employers and unions agreeing on wages and working conditions — expired on Dec. 31. Despite multiple requests for meetings, Tuttle said there has been little progress made to reach an updated contract.

“We (National Labor Relations Board“We will be held accountable for not negotiating in good faith,” he added.

Tuttle said union members want higher wages and that many of them work overtime to make ends meet.

“Employees deserve to be refreshed, they deserve to have a normal job, normal hours, and a salary that they need to support a family, not a 100-hour minimum work week,” Tuttle said. “It's a culture of hopping and burning out.”

He believes this is impacting the way paramedics treat patients.

“It's important to me that my family is treated with compassion, respect, honesty and calm,” he said.

We got in touch Priority Ambulance And I received the statement.

If no agreement is reached, these emergency responders plan to picket the state Capitol on October 1st and October 3rd.

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