The parties held a ceremonial signing to mark the agreement on Jan. 13 during a board meeting. The ratified employee contract was signed Dec. 16.
The details
The four-year labor agreement includes, but is not limited to the following:
- A 4% increase in wages for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years
- Wage negotiations to occur again in 2026 for FY 2026-27 and FY 2027-28
- Additional $200 per month for bilingual pay
- Union representation of on the Executive Leadership Staffing Committee for hiring a new Chief, Assistant Chief and medical director
- Union representation at board meetings and union agenda items
- Assigned mental health day, and additional peer support and mental health services
- An expanded 401K retirement plan to be rolled out over the next few years
The signing of the new agreement represents “the beginning of a strengthened partnership and commitment to providing quality emergency medical services to the Hays County community,” union president Zack Phillips said in a news release.
Phillips said this agreement also paves the way for San Marcos Hays County EMS to be more competitive amongst other EMS markets in the area, rather than only a “stepping stone” for a person’s career.
“This puts us in line with both Williamson County and Austin Travis County as far as pay benefits,” he told Community Impact. “People will want to stay here. That's a benefit to the community because you get people who are familiar with the community—familiar with their patients and the needs of a community.”
How we got here
The agreement comes after a lengthy negotiations process. The union started in December 2022 after concerns over “fair and equitable” treatment of employees, Phillips said.
Bargaining started in September 2023 and the ratified contract was officially signed in December.
Stay tuned
Philips said while contractually “everything is really good,” the union will continue to monitor developments within the company as they come about.
