Pro-Transport (bay area)

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Pro-Transport-1_EMT

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Pro-Transport-1 is a very bad EMS company to work for. I strongly feel that EMS is a family, and because I work for Pro-Transport-1 I feel I need to protect my EMS family members. I know that when you read the nice job EMT or Paramedic job descriptions from Pro-Transport-1 it sounds like Pro-Transport is a good company.

Let me give you some true facts:

Pro-Transport-1 401K DOES NOT match at 15% as someone here stated it's 2% after 2 years of being a Pro-Transport employee. Before 2 years of service its 0%, Pro-Transport doesn’t match for those employee’s at all.

Pro-Transport-1 EMT's care very much. The problem is with Pro-Transport management, and ownership.

Medical Benefits: Medical Benefits at Pro-Transport-1 only covers 50% of the employee and 0% of Pro-Transport employee family members. This is for Kaiser Only.
Yes Pro-Transport offers other medical plans then Kaiser but the company pay’s 0% into them EVEN FOR THE EMPLOYEE. Pro-Transport employee’s pay 100%. Co-Pays are high with both. A Kaiser ER visit will cost you $250!

Starting pay is $9.50 per hr. which is a true statement. Yes you do get call bonuses. The call volume is low as others have stated about Pro-Transport. 4 BLS Calls on a good day. That does very depending on what station within Pro-Transport you work at. Many employee's have complained that the calls are not counted correctly. I personally haven't had any problem, but have seen many who have. Some have been shorted more then $25.

The ambulances are often missing equipment again management is aware and routinely sends you out on calls. Often the rig’s are down and at Ford. Sometimes there are no ambulances to drive. Your call and your $5 gets routed away. O another thing dispatch does not dispatch evenly. So 1 crew may have 5 or 6 calls, and another crew may have only 2 calls. Even if the crew with 2 calls came on shift before the crew with 5 or 6. Pro-Transport management is aware and says their working on the problem.

Let me just close by saying, I just feel strongly that these items needs to be made aware to EMS personnel who are thinking of applying. Yes, it’s a place to get your foot in the door with EMS. If you’re a new EMT come to Pro-Transport, but get in and get out. You will find that all I am saying about Pro-Transport-1 is very true. Honestly there is much more I could say about Pro-Transport but I think you get my point.
 
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VentMedic

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In all fairness why don't you post a comparison of other transport services in your area to see if benefits, wages and bonuses are similar?

Even in the SF Bay area, it is difficult for an EMT to demand much for wages. Realistically, 3 months of training and "BLS" care for 4 or 5 patients per day doesn't bring in the big money. With the short time for training and the many tech schools mass producing EMTs every 3 months or less, there is an abundance of EMT-Bs in the area just waiting for a job that at least offers a paycheck and/or health insurance.

Many laid off and well educated people from Silicon Valley are now working as EMTs after a quick course just to keep their families insured and bring in some money. Some are just trying something different while inbetween employment contracts. Of course they will probably return to their other careers and lifestyle once the economy in that area picks up.

If you don't like your job you can try to go elsewhere but as an EMT-B you might be limited.
 

46Young

Level 25 EMS Wizard
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Pro-Transport-1 is a very bad EMS company to work for. I strongly feel that EMS is a family, and because I work for Pro-Transport-1 I feel I need to protect my EMS family members. I know that when you read the nice job EMT or Paramedic job descriptions from Pro-Transport-1 it sounds like Pro-Transport is a good company.

Let me give you some true facts:

Pro-Transport-1 401K DOES NOT match at 15% as someone here stated it's 2% after 2 years of being a Pro-Transport employee. Before 2 years of service its 0%, Pro-Transport doesn’t match for those employee’s at all.

Pro-Transport-1 EMT's care very much. The problem is with Pro-Transport management, and ownership.

Medical Benefits: Medical Benefits at Pro-Transport-1 only covers 50% of the employee and 0% of Pro-Transport employee family members. This is for Kaiser Only.
Yes Pro-Transport offers other medical plans then Kaiser but the company pay’s 0% into them EVEN FOR THE EMPLOYEE. Pro-Transport employee’s pay 100%. Co-Pays are high with both. A Kaiser ER visit will cost you $250!

Starting pay is $9.50 per hr. which is a true statement. Yes you do get call bonuses. The call volume is low as others have stated about Pro-Transport. 4 BLS Calls on a good day. That does very depending on what station within Pro-Transport you work at. Many employee's have complained that the calls are not counted correctly. I personally haven't had any problem, but have seen many who have. Some have been shorted more then $25.

The ambulances are often missing equipment again management is aware and routinely sends you out on calls. Often the rig’s are down and at Ford. Sometimes there are no ambulances to drive. Your call and your $5 gets routed away. O another thing dispatch does not dispatch evenly. So 1 crew may have 5 or 6 calls, and another crew may have only 2 calls. Even if the crew with 2 calls came on shift before the crew with 5 or 6. Pro-Transport management is aware and says their working on the problem.

Let me just close by saying, I just feel strongly that these items needs to be made aware to EMS personnel who are thinking of applying. Yes, it’s a place to get your foot in the door with EMS. If you’re a new EMT come to Pro-Transport, but get in and get out. You will find that all I am saying about Pro-Transport-1 is very true. Honestly there is much more I could say about Pro-Transport but I think you get my point.

I strongly believe that those wishing to get some initial experience in EMS, where private based IFT is the only feasible option, should ONLY DO IT ER DIEM. Working at Wal-Mart, Costco, Staples, Applebees, TGIF, or something similar FT will likely pay better, and provide superior medical benefits. That would be a good strategy while waiting for an ER tech spot, a position in third service EMS, hospital based EMS, or while completing a degree.

When you're hired as a brand new EMT for a private based IFT company, I strongly suggest getting shifts exclusively with medics. You'll see more acutely ill pts, you won't have to worry about any liability/negligence from working with an incompetent or inexperiences BLS provider. It's likely that you'll learn more when working with a medic, anyway.

That's exactly what I did. After getting my EMT, I kept my FT job in beverage sales, did a stint as an EMS vollie for MVVAC (NYC), and worked per diem for seven months at Hunter Ambulance-Ambulette Inc. in Inwood NY. When the NSLIJ HS CEMS hired me, it was for FT employment, and I was set. At Hunter, it quickly became evident that I was working with inexperienced, clinically ignorant personnel on the whole. When I had exactly two weeks on, I had a partner that was brand new to the field. It was at that point that I chose to work exclusively with medics. One crew brought a pt with rigor into the ED in a stair chair with an NRB attatched. I've heard of a Metrocare (now Transcare) crew doing something similar. I've also witnessed a crew "bagging" an arrest pt through the NRB resevoir. I took pity and threw them a BVM so they wouldn't get jammed up. You don't want to get mixed up in a negative pt care issue at all, let alone that early in your career.
 

46Young

Level 25 EMS Wizard
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In all fairness why don't you post a comparison of other transport services in your area to see if benefits, wages and bonuses are similar?

Even in the SF Bay area, it is difficult for an EMT to demand much for wages. Realistically, 3 months of training and "BLS" care for 4 or 5 patients per day doesn't bring in the big money. With the short time for training and the many tech schools mass producing EMTs every 3 months or less, there is an abundance of EMT-Bs in the area just waiting for a job that at least offers a paycheck and/or health insurance.

Many laid off and well educated people from Silicon Valley are now working as EMTs after a quick course just to keep their families insured and bring in some money. Some are just trying something different while inbetween employment contracts. Of course they will probably return to their other careers and lifestyle once the economy in that area picks up.

If you don't like your job you can try to go elsewhere but as an EMT-B you might be limited.

True. Many have been laid off, with bills to pay and mouths to feed. When you need work, and need it yesterday, you're going to look for the quickest, easiset option. Enter EMS. A GED, 600-700 bucks and 120 hours of your time will make you eligable for hire. You and everyone else who seek a quick and easy route to employment. As such, EMT's are a dime a dozen, and are compensated as such. the most desireable agencies can afford to be selective, and also require prior experience, to at least see some form of work history in the field. Continue your education to seperate yourself from the pack. And contribute to your 401k regardless of the employer's willingness to pay.

Recommended reading - The Truth About Money, The Lies About Money, and Rescue Your Money (read this first), all by Ric Edelman
 

VentMedic

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When you're hired as a brand new EMT for a private based IFT company, I strongly suggest getting shifts exclusively with medics. You'll see more acutely ill pts, you won't have to worry about any liability/negligence from working with an incompetent or inexperiences BLS provider. It's likely that you'll learn more when working with a medic, anyway.

This is California and unfortunately the area in not in the OP's favor for that.

To find a Paramedic, 911 EMS is largely Fire Based. CCT utilizes RNs with EMTs as drivers and helpers. The very few ALS IFT trucks around are extremely limited in protocol that there is not much demand for them. Often a hospital will just book a CCT with a nurse rather then going through the long list of what a California Paramedic can not do. It is also a safer bet if the patient requires another med or technology during the wait time for the ambulance. When that happens and an ALS Paramedic truck arrives, another delay in transfer will happen while a CCT with a nurse is dispatched.
 
OP
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P

Pro-Transport-1_EMT

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In all fairness why don't you post a comparison of other transport services in your area to see if benefits, wages and bonuses are similar?

Even in the SF Bay area, it is difficult for an EMT to demand much for wages. Realistically, 3 months of training and "BLS" care for 4 or 5 patients per day doesn't bring in the big money. With the short time for training and the many tech schools mass producing EMTs every 3 months or less, there is an abundance of EMT-Bs in the area just waiting for a job that at least offers a paycheck and/or health insurance.

Many laid off and well educated people from Silicon Valley are now working as EMTs after a quick course just to keep their families insured and bring in some money. Some are just trying something different while inbetween employment contracts. Of course they will probably return to their other careers and lifestyle once the economy in that area picks up.

If you don't like your job you can try to go elsewhere but as an EMT-B you might be limited.

I totally agree with what you are saying things are bad out their, and getting a paycheck is not bad any place with things the way things are. Pro-Transport-1 is just one of many companies that are using the economy to better their business. I am sure that Pro-Transport-1 is not seeing the revenue that they saw even a year ago. I just wanted to put some info out their to the EMS community for those that are thinking about applying to take some of the recruitment rederick for what it is. Pro-Transport-1 is full of empty promises, they lack follow through on pretty much everything, and put the EMT's last. EMT's are their bread and butter, they make the company money and were getting dumped on a little more then we like.

For all the people from the Silicon Valley now working in EMS were glad your here. EMS and Pro-Transport could really use some educated EMT's. Just be warned and maybe you can teach some of the managers at Pro Transport some management skills.

Pay is low, even more at a non-union ambulance companies like pro transport. Pro Transport employee's recently voted down a union. This was because Pro Transport assured us that voting No on the union would be to our benefit. Their response has been no change in benefits, and termination of employee's who has supported the union. The raise their offering is less then $1. The annual inflation rate for this year is more then their offering. I ask you does that sound fair what Pro Transport is doing? They lie, and cheat their employee's!
 

VentMedic

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Pay is low, even more at a non-union ambulance companies like pro transport. Pro Transport employee's recently voted down a union. This was because Pro Transport assured us that voting No on the union would be to our benefit. Their response has been no change in benefits, and termination of employee's who has supported the union. The raise their offering is less then $1. The annual inflation rate for this year is more then their offering. I ask you does that sound fair what Pro Transport is doing? They lie, and cheat their employee's!

Did they specifically offer you more pay and benefits by voting NO on the union contract?

Do you also realize some of the contracts that would have been lost by an ambulance company going on strike every month? The alternative could have been the unemployment line for employees such as that experienced by another Bay area ambulance company. In fact, it was Pro Transport that won that contract after the other company was not renewed. However from what I understand that contract is not working out very well and some of it has to do with the attitudes and outspoken words of the EMTs towards some patients and the facilities they are contracted with.

I don't think you are seeing the big picture. Rather, I think you are probably one of those disgruntled employees that have been reprimanded for running your mouth at inappropriate times in the patient care areas of the hospitals and LTC facilities. You might start looking for another job before you get yourself into some serious trouble.
 

Akulahawk

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PT: Here's a hint... treat the staff at the LTC's and hospitals with a grin, nod, and a pleasant tone. Even if you VERY MUCH disagree with them. Trust me on this. If your company's employees are pleasant to work with, they'll get favored by the staff at those facilities in getting transports. More calls means (ultimately) more money for you because you won't be laid-off because they're not getting calls...

As to the rest of it, if you have PROOF that only those employees that voted for the union were released from employment, they may have some cause of action against the company for it. However, California is an "at-will" state and you OR the company can release you from employment with or without cause.

Also, if you have actual proof that they actually offered more money and better benefits from a "no" vote and nothing occurred, there may be some recourse for that, but be forewarned... it could result in loss of your job in the meantime.

I must, absolutely MUST agree with Vent on something: WATCH WHAT YOU SAY AND HOW YOU SAY IT WHILE AROUND PATIENTS AND IN PATIENT CARE AREAS. IT CAN NEGATIVELY IMPACT UPON YOU DIRECTLY (you can be fired) AND INDIRECTLY (a bunch of you can be laid off because of no company income).

Yes, I was yelling... it's to make a point...
 
OP
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Pro-Transport-1_EMT

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I do see the big picture. Contracts are everything, and just cause I decided to express my thoughts you think I'm an idiot. That doesn't make sense. Pro Transport has some very young employee's who say very wrong things to very important people. Yes it's true that young EMT's shooting off their mouth have cost the company contracts, and have damaged to company image. Pro-Transport is not seen as being very professional by many in EMS including many nurses, doctors, firefighters or fellow EMS personnel. Just ask AMR. I think all of this brings down EMS a whole, and is in fact a direct reflection on the lack of hiring standard recently demonstrated by Pro Transport.

I was have been with the company a long time maybe to long. I have never been in trouble, but it does seem like with Pro Transport-1 your head is never far from the chopping block. Ask anyone who works for Pro Transport and they will back up what I am saying. The only exception being those who work in Cotati.
 

VentMedic

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I do see the big picture. Contracts are everything, and just cause I decided to express my thoughts you think I'm an idiot. That doesn't make sense. Pro Transport has some very young employee's who say very wrong things to very important people. Yes it's true that young EMT's shooting off their mouth have cost the company contracts, and have damaged to company image. Pro-Transport is not seen as being very professional by many in EMS including many nurses, doctors, firefighters or fellow EMS personnel. Just ask AMR. I think all of this brings down EMS a whole, and is in fact a direct reflection on the lack of hiring standard recently demonstrated by Pro Transport.

I was have been with the company a long time maybe to long. I have never been in trouble, but it does seem like with Pro Transport-1 your head is never far from the chopping block. Ask anyone who works for Pro Transport and they will back up what I am saying. The only exception being those who work in Cotati.

If what you have stated in your post is true about the others employees, why would I want to bother asking "anyone who works for Pro Transport"? How would I know it is not just one of the employees the company hired by low standards who is just shooting off his/her mouth? You have now not only taken down the company but also the employees. Thus, your arguments from your first post have now been weakened.
 
OP
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Pro-Transport-1_EMT

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Also, if you have actual proof that they actually offered more money and better benefits from a "no" vote and nothing occurred, there may be some recourse for that, but be forewarned... it could result in loss of your job in the meantime.

I must, absolutely MUST agree with Vent on something: WATCH WHAT YOU SAY AND HOW YOU SAY IT WHILE AROUND PATIENTS AND IN PATIENT CARE AREAS. IT CAN NEGATIVELY IMPACT UPON YOU DIRECTLY (you can be fired) AND INDIRECTLY (a bunch of you can be laid off because of no company income).

Yes, I was yelling... it's to make a point...

I agree with both of you. I am always as professional as I can be however some and only some employee's have not been. Call volume is down and maybe this is why. The bad apples hurt the rest of us for sure. Just so I am very clear most that work for Pro-Transport are very caring, and treat patients how we would want our family treated. Some however have not been this way. Pro Transport-1 is going through some hard times now. Pro Transport lacks training when first coming on, and lately seems to hire some very poorly trained EMT's. Its very hard on the rest of us.
 
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VentMedic

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and lately seems to hire some very poorly trained EMT's. Its very hard on the rest of us.

Too many EMT mills have sprung up in the Bay area over the past 3 years turning out new EMTs in a month. Unfortunately, the students are suckered into paying a high price for the 120 hours of education with some false hopes. Thus, when it isn't like they thought it would be, some blame the employers, other healthcare professionals and the patients.

I might sound a little harsh but I was a consultant on a couple of contracts in the Bay area.
 
OP
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Pro-Transport-1_EMT

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Do you also realize some of the contracts that would have been lost by an ambulance company going on strike every month? The alternative could have been the unemployment line for employees such as that experienced by another Bay area ambulance company. In fact, it was Pro Transport that won that contract after the other company was not renewed. However from what I understand that contract is not working out very well and some of it has to do with the attitudes and outspoken words of the EMTs towards some patients and the facilities they are contracted with.

I don't think you are seeing the big picture. Rather, I think you are probably one of those disgruntled employees that have been reprimanded for running your mouth at inappropriate times in the patient care areas of the hospitals and LTC facilities. You might start looking for another job before you get yourself into some serious trouble.


Vent your the one that brought up the contract issue and that you had heard something. I simply stated that their was issue with the company, and yes lately Pro Transport is not hiring what many of us good EMT's think are well qualified people. EMS and we as EMT's deserve better.
 
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VentMedic

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Vent your the one that brought up the contract issue and that you had heard something. I simply stated that their was issue with the company, and yes lately Pro Transport is not hiring what many of us good EMT's think are well qualified people. EMS and we as EMT's deserve better.

Your company does mostly IFTs and not 911 contracts. However, if talk is out that there are issues amongst the employees and the company even if it is just gossip on an anonymous forum, that company could be scrutinized closer during the next contract for whatever facility or county/municipal region. That could eventually negatively impact the employees further if another contract is lost or the terms are renegotiated. Thus, be careful with what you say and the rumors you start if you can not provide proof or you are not prepared to follow through.
 

daedalus

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This is the story of almost every private ambulance company in California. Poor management, people in charge without the education to be in charge, employees treated badly, rigs are kept stocked with the oldest and poorest equipment possible to keep costs down, etc etc.

We can fight this with better educated EMTs that will create a relative shortage of us, and the EMTs that available are will not take jobs like the one described in this thread.
 

Old Fart Medic

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Wow!

Pro-Transport-1 is a very bad EMS company to work for. I strongly feel that EMS is a family, and because I work for Pro-Transport-1 I feel I need to protect my EMS family members. I know that when you read the nice job EMT or Paramedic job descriptions from Pro-Transport-1 it sounds like Pro-Transport is a good company.

Let me give you some true facts:

Pro-Transport-1 401K DOES NOT match at 15% as someone here stated it's 2% after 2 years of being a Pro-Transport employee. Before 2 years of service its 0%, Pro-Transport doesn’t match for those employee’s at all.

Pro-Transport-1 EMT's care very much. The problem is with Pro-Transport management, and ownership.

Medical Benefits: Medical Benefits at Pro-Transport-1 only covers 50% of the employee and 0% of Pro-Transport employee family members. This is for Kaiser Only.
Yes Pro-Transport offers other medical plans then Kaiser but the company pay’s 0% into them EVEN FOR THE EMPLOYEE. Pro-Transport employee’s pay 100%. Co-Pays are high with both. A Kaiser ER visit will cost you $250!

Starting pay is $9.50 per hr. which is a true statement. Yes you do get call bonuses. The call volume is low as others have stated about Pro-Transport. 4 BLS Calls on a good day. That does very depending on what station within Pro-Transport you work at. Many employee's have complained that the calls are not counted correctly. I personally haven't had any problem, but have seen many who have. Some have been shorted more then $25.

The ambulances are often missing equipment again management is aware and routinely sends you out on calls. Often the rig’s are down and at Ford. Sometimes there are no ambulances to drive. Your call and your $5 gets routed away. O another thing dispatch does not dispatch evenly. So 1 crew may have 5 or 6 calls, and another crew may have only 2 calls. Even if the crew with 2 calls came on shift before the crew with 5 or 6. Pro-Transport management is aware and says their working on the problem.

Let me just close by saying, I just feel strongly that these items needs to be made aware to EMS personnel who are thinking of applying. Yes, it’s a place to get your foot in the door with EMS. If you’re a new EMT come to Pro-Transport, but get in and get out. You will find that all I am saying about Pro-Transport-1 is very true. Honestly there is much more I could say about Pro-Transport but I think you get my point.


I'm just an old fart medic. I have been around the block, more than one time. I remember when I first got hired as a brand new EMT! I thought I was hot stuff, that I had died and gone to heaven. I was going to get paid $19,000 a year for doing what I had been doing for free. AND I only had to work 20 days out of the month! That was awesome.
I have read this thread. If you feel so abused by ProTransport, why don't you just go over to the dark side and work for AMR? I have been there, got the battle scars to prove it. You are just a number. You have to start out as a gurney humper. And I don't care how good you think you are, you are so much dog stuff on the foot of others. I have worked for big companies, and for the mom and pop companies. I have worked long hard shifts where I never laid my head down, then I have worked for companies where I was so bored that I took to computers. (Love them).
I work for Pro Transport. I certainly won't back up your accusations. I have had a good experiance so far with them. The people I work with are intellegent, professional, courteous, ask questions, voted out that union, without the promise of a raise. That would have been illegal and would have brought the Justice Department into the fray.
I don't have insuarance thru Pro Transport so I can't say about that, but remember, Insuarance is a benefit, not a right. Kaiser Shipbuilding did it to get qaulified workers for his shipyards when you couldn't pay more than the law allowed. No one is making you stay where you obviously don't want to be. So, go work for AMR. Why stay where you don't want to be?
 

NorCalMedic

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wow

I actually used to work for pro transport, and as vent said i would be very careful what you say and where you say it. If you ask me, you seem like one of the young uneducated snot nose kids that wanted the union souly to make more money and have a sense of direction in your life. Wanted a reason to not run a call and have someone to sit there and back you up kinda like a mommy or a daddy. Ill tell you what that company will one day be one of the largest ambulance companies around, and if you dont becareful you will be in the EDD line because they will have gotten rid of you and not want to hire you back, and will have gotten so big that there is no other ambulance companies to choose from... and where does that leave you? jobless... be happy that a company like protransport is even willing to hire young, limited educated individuals... for god sake they put you behind the wheel of a vehicle that costs somewhere near 100,000... that youll probably wreck... do they charge you? no they dont.. you still get a pay check and you still get your benefits.. you DO NOT get the 5,000 bill that it costs to fix the rig. So in closing take your complaints somwhere else or like vent said compare the competitors and see where PT lands... and ill tell you right now they are prob going to sit at the top with the most perks, and the most money to be made out there....

Pheww glad I got that off my chest...

Oh yea and your union remarks are CRAP!
 

EMSLaw

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As to the rest of it, if you have PROOF that only those employees that voted for the union were released from employment, they may have some cause of action against the company for it. However, California is an "at-will" state and you OR the company can release you from employment with or without cause.

Firing people because they voted to unionize is a violation of Federal labor laws.

I agree with the rest of what you and Vent said, though. It always irks me when people start talking about other calls, etc., in front of a patient.
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
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Firing people because they voted to unionize is a violation of Federal labor laws.

I agree with the rest of what you and Vent said, though. It always irks me when people start talking about other calls, etc., in front of a patient.
Which is why I said "if you have PROOF" because that would mean that the Feds could get involved... No proof, no case.
 
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