A Brooklyn pol is demanding Mayor Eric Adams honor a 2021 campaign promise by raising city medic salaries on par with other first responders.
Councilman Justin Brannan, a Bay Ridge-based Democrat running in next year’s comptroller race, accused the Adams administration of treating emergency medical technicians and paramedics as “civilians” at the bargaining table rather than “uniformed personnel” such as firefighters and cops.
“There should be no second-class first responders in this city, but what we’ve got now is a caste system in our 911-dispatched uniform services,” said Brannan.
“It’s a disgrace. These aren’t ambulance drivers. They are street doctors.”
Both the city and Local 2507 of District Council 37, the union representing the city’s 4,100 medics, have hit a stalemate in negotiations for a new contract and the matter could go to arbitration, sources said.
Union members have worked without a contract since June 2022 despite Adams winning the union’s endorsement during the 2021 mayoral campaign after promising “pay parity” with other first responders, if re-elected.
Firefighters and medics are both part of the FDNY, but you wouldn’t know by their salary structures.
The starting salary for EMTs is $39,386 to $47,016 compared to $54,122 for firefighters. After five years, EMTs typically earn $59,534 to $76,472, compared to $105,146 for firefighters.
Brannan, who chairs the Council’s finance committee, said the city has enough money budgeted in “labor reserves” to “make good” on Adams’ vow.
Mayoral spokesperson Amaris Cockfield said the city doesn’t comment on ongoing negotiations, “but we are hopeful to reach a voluntary settlement that is fair and equitable to both our dedicated EMS workers and city taxpayers.”
