Rockaway Beach, Queens – Today, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Beach) voiced her support alongside the more than 4,700 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals who are seeking to rectify the City’s long-standing practice of discriminatory pay towards EMS service members. Several unions- Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics & Fire Inspectors, FDNY, Local 2507 and the Uniformed EMS Officers, Local 3621, FDNY, AFSCME, AFL-CIO today called on Mayor de Blasio to rectify the pay inequity. As the system stands, a top FDNY EMS member will cap out around $48,000 annual salary, whereas after five years an FDNY member will make about $86,000.

“EMS professionals deserve to be treated with the same respect for the work they do- saving lives every single day,” said Pheffer Amato. “The long-standing practice of discriminatory pay towards EMS member is simply unacceptable and must be rectified immediately. Similarly to when I joined EMS professionals to push the city to equally provide unlimited sick leave to our brave EMS workers that responded to the tragedy of 9/11, I once again urge the Mayor to treat the EMS workers in this city with more respect, and that includes raising their wages.”  

“I’ve dedicated my life to working as an EMT and helping the most vulnerable throughout our communities. The work we do on a daily basis deserves to be recognized, and compensated for what it is,” said Ozzie Edwards, who has been an EMT for 22 years. “I thank Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato for her advocacy, and join her in urging the Mayor to rectify this pay inequality.”