Paramedics get a raise, new contract with Highland’s creation of public safety department

The paramedics of Highland’s public safety department have a new contract and a new structure after votes by the city council last week.

The city council approved a new contract with International Association of Firefighters Local 3672, which represents the paramedics of the Highland Fire Department. The contract includes a 3.5% increase for paramedics and a $1.25 flat hourly increase for emergency medical technicians.

Wages will now begin at $16.33 for probationary personnel and increase to $17.84 through the first year of service. Wages top out at $29.75 an hour after 25 years of service.

A structural change was included in the contracts: in 2022, the city had formally established the Public Safety Department with EMS as a separate department. City manager Chris Conrad wrote in his recommendation memo that the union had requested a modification, placing EMS under the fire department as a separate division, but under the same organizational umbrella.

“This makes no change to how we are operating or their chain of command,” Conrad wrote. However, it will allow the union members to be protected by firefighter-specific legislation and brings them into compliance with the national union.

“Neither staff nor our labor attorney has any objection to these provisions, as it was never our intent to remove those protections,” Conrad wrote.

The council approved the contract at its May 15 meeting. The contract runs May 1 to April 30, 2024.