City, EMS reach tentative agreement for new contract

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin said it reached a tentative agreement Monday with the Austin Emergency Medical Services Association (AEMSA).

The “Meet and Confer Agreement” will be presented to AEMSA for approval prior to City Council consideration in mid-September.

“The City and AEMSA grew to understand and appreciate their respective priorities over the negotiation process, eventually coming to an agreement that focuses on retention that both believe will begin to address long-standing critical staffing shortages,” the city said in a statement.

Per the tentative agreement, all current employees would get a 4% or more pay increase based on position and tenure within the department.

The city said the entry-level medic salary was increased to $24.24 an hour to assist with recruitment.

“To help retain the most experienced employees, additional increases were added at year 23 and year 26, providing the most tenured employees with increases of 9% - 14.5% in year one of the contract,” the city said in a statement.

According to the city, Austin Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckritz and AEMSA President Selena Xie agreed both parties worked together to come up with a progressive but fair agreement that will take the department into the next era of the developing emergency medical services profession.