City, EMS union reach tentative labor agreement with wage increases

The city and the Austin Emergency Medical Services Association have reached a tentative labor agreement that moves the needle on medic salaries.

The city announced Monday that both sides have agreed to a deal that, if approved, would give current Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services employees a 4 percent raise or more, depending on their position and tenure within the department.

The meet-and-confer agreement will be presented to the association, and if it’s adopted, it will go before City Council in mid-September. It would replace the one-year stopgap measure approved in 2022, which left the pay disparity between ATCEMS and the city’s other two public safety entities unaddressed.

Austin has struggled for years to fill vacancies in ATCEMS due to low medic pay and the city’s high cost of living, but the problem was exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Austin EMS Association President Selena Xie said last year that an Austin Police Department officer at the 10-year mark was making $20,000 more than a medic. At the time, the department was 23 percent short-staffed.

The entry-level medic salary increases to $24.24 under the proposed contract, which is intended to bolster recruitment efforts. In an effort to increase retention of veteran employees, the contract also adds raises in the 23rd and 26th years of service, with increases of 9 percent to 14.5 percent in the first year.

The move was praised by the union, ATCEMS and city leadership.

“We have tried to balance fiscal responsibility with filling our vacancies and retaining current talent,” said Sarah Griffin, a city negotiator, in a Monday statement. “Both sides saw this as a critical focus during negotiations.”

“We have made good progress towards our stated goal of pay parity with our sister public safety agencies and look forward to continuing to improve conditions for our members and the community they serve in the future,” Xie said in a statement.

ATCEMS Chief Rob Luckritz said he is “thrilled” the sides could come to an agreement that will allow the department to refocus on meeting the needs of Austin and Travis County.

“This agreement also ensures we are competitive and able to recruit and retain the talent that makes (ATCEMS) one of the best EMS systems in Travis County,” Luckritz said in a statement.

Council Member Alison Alter shared a similar sentiment on social media. She congratulated the sides on a “contract that will give well deserved raises to medics and position us to recruit the best people to serve our community. Congrats to all who worked hard to reach this point.”

At the Public Safety Commission meeting on Aug. 7, Xie addressed a $1.35 million budget proposal to expand the department’s Collaborative Care Communications Center into 24-hour operation. During her testimony, she noted the department remains 23 percent short-staffed.

“I know one thing is that a lot of people are hoping that the (communications center) goes 24 hours, because they are very exhausted,” Xie told the commission. “It’s very tough to work on the ambulance, and they are looking for alternatives. And so being able to be in communications but still do very similar work will actually extend careers, and I think potentially keep people here as a retention tool.”

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