JAMESTOWN – The weather was cooperative for about two dozen local Alstar EMS employees on Wednesday who held their informational picket in front of UPMC Chautauqua hospital on Foote Ave.
The move was an effort to raise awareness about low wages for the employees in the hopes of getting a better deal as negotiations for a new contract, starting Jan. 1, 2020, appear to have stalled.
Alstar employees are members of the SEIU Local 200 United and, according to the Post-Journal, officials said Wednesday’s picket on Foote Avenue was to shed light on the low wages the emergency medical technicians and paramedics are currently making. They say that the wages has lead to fewer employees in the ranks, causing “dangerously low” staffing levels at both ends of the county.
UPMC contracts with Alstar to provide services throughout Southern Chautauqua County.
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