FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing more than 4,000 emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and fire inspectors, has launched the #StandWithEMS campaign — an effort to raise public awareness about the challenges faced by first responders, by focusing on what the union describes as neglect from City Hall.
Union representatives say the city’s first responders are overworked, often short-staffed, and underpaid in a highly demanding job that requires intense focus. Working as a first responder has become so exhausting that there are high turnover rates, with many EMS members leaving for better pay in other roles — and usually transferring to work with the New York City Fire Department. The #StandWithEMS campaign will be an ongoing social media campaign to encourage New Yorkers to share their support and urge their local leaders to support EMS pay parity.
For years, Local 2507 has fought for salary equality with firefighters and police officers. Union officials say the pay disparity is a form of discrimination, especially since the EMS workforce is mostly women and people of color, while white firefighters make up the majority of the New York City Fire Department.
With its new social media campaign, Local 2507 wants the public to truly understand what EMS first responders are going through. The campaign features an information booklet with testimonials from workers like Taysha Soto, who works at EMS Battalion 20 at Pelham Parkway South in the Bronx.
Soto describes her daily working conditions as “rough,” and notes that, “As soon as one response ends, we are called to another.” The relentless EMS work schedule leads to severe mental and physical strain for workers, she said. And the fact that Soto is a single mother of two who must commute from Staten Island to the Bronx, paying tolls and gas on a biweekly paycheck of $1,100 to $1,200, makes it extra hard for her. “I know people that work for UberEats making more than me,” she insisted.
Jasiah Canelo, who works with EMS Battalion 13 in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, noted that EMS workers often witness people in traumatic and distressed situations, which affects the first responders: “The things we respond to on a daily basis are difficult to witness, and they take a big physical and mental toll, especially in high-volume areas across the Bronx and Manhattan,” he said. “In my 2023 graduating class of roughly 160, I know 40 that already left EMS to work in other industries.”
“I do like this job, and put in 50–60 hours a week, including overtime, but it is definitely physically and mentally taxing,” said FDNY EMT Shari Ramirez of EMS Battalion 20. She spoke of patients who curse at EMTs as they’re trying to do their work. They often have to cater to patients with mental issues, and many EMTs themselves suffer from PTSD from the work they do.
“The pay is not enough, especially since we do so much and put ourselves at risk every day,” Ramirez said. “EMTs work tirelessly to get patients to the hospital in the best condition, and we are the first line of contact. Being an EMT has opened my eyes to the heartbreaking realities of this city. I thought schizophrenia was incredibly rare, but I’ve found out that so many people are struggling with illnesses they cannot control.”
Local 2507 says that maintaining the FDNY EMS workers’ pay rate at $18.94 per hour is the primary reason for the 70% attrition rate among its staff.
“We are world-class emergency response medical professionals, and the FDNY is the busiest emergency medical response agency in the world, yet our front-line responders are paid less per hour than most New Yorkers pay for babysitters or dog walkers,” said Local 2507 Union President Oren Barzilay. “Every day, our members work amid the dangers of New York, at active crime scenes, fires, and disasters alongside NYPD and Fire Department colleagues. The city has repeatedly failed to keep the promises made to our workforce, and all we ask for is wages that reflect the dangers we face on the front lines.”