Right now Kansas City-MO's MAST-EMS serves a number of small northern suburbs with contracted ambulance service.
If I were a city official of one of those suburbs- Parkville and Riverside for instance- I'd be concerned about the KCMO FD and MAST-EMS power-play.The Fire department already has fire-supression automatic mutual aid with a number of surrounding departments.
One would wonder if the Fire department took over the ambulance service- would these suburban areas have the same contract option with KCFD or would these municipalities be forced to start their own ambulance service?
Would such a contract accurately reflect the costs to KC-MO citizens to provide ambulance service to these needy suburbs?
KCFD IAFF Local 42 union officials have brought up that dark term "labor unrest."
That sort of talk cost me a fire department career after firefighter strikes in 1975 and 1980 made the job untenable.
Can suburbs who rely on MAST-EMS service afford any new set-up- and can the citizens of Kansas City-MO rest assured a fire truck and ambulance will BE THERE when called?
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2 comments:
That "labor unrest" thing would cost the union a ton of money in legal fees after they got their ass dragged through the courts. The MOU now forbids any such action, whether official or unofficial. I just don't see how anyone who works for KCFD or MAST would be such a heartless fuck as to play these games with people's lives. There's a right and a wrong way to advance labor issues.
These thinly veiled threats of "unrest" are exactly the WRONG way. I'm a Local 42 member, and this was deeply upsetting to me. I've contemplated leaving the union because I won't short shrift my ethics and morals as a professional to play this little game.
They're losing a ton of support on the rank and file for this type of crap. They upped our dues, but the only one who seems to be getting anything are the board members and Louie Wright. We're paying a ton of money into that PAC that only seems to support the losing candidates.
It gets old. I don't want a repeat of the sabotage from the 80s. PD has never forgiven KCFD for that stunt.
First off- thanks for the comments Anon11:36am.
Since you say you're a Local 42 member- you know the score.
Louie Wright is a common denominator in the 1975 strike and the 1980 job action too.
The old saying is "if it ain't broke- don't fix it"- in the late 1970's the FD version was "if it ain't broke- it soon will be."
I fear the same may be in store for MAST under Local 42's current leadership.
Cheers!
-Groucho
KCMOFD P8-9-16 - T6 & Squad38
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