Part 2: County and union negotiators discuss EMS issues Tuesday. From the left: Levy County Department of Public Safety Director Mitch Harrell, County Labor Union attorney Wayne Helsby, County Coordinator Wilbur Dean, IAFF union member Jimmy Jones, IAFF President Katy Graves.

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Union leaders said Tuesday they oppose a county government plan that would allow two county paramedics to be reimbursed for their schooling without going through procedures established by the collective bargaining contract.

            Katy Graves, president of the International Association of Firefighters, and union member Jimmy Jones said the county proposal to reimburse paramedics Kenny Maddox and Jimmy Willis for their paramedic tuition violates the contract reimbursement procedures. They said the proposal caught them by surprise.

            They met with county officials Tuesday. The IAFF represents Levy County Emergency Medical Services EMTs, paramedics and firefighters in union matters.

            Graves said no one from the union she represents or from the county approached her personally with the request to waive paramedic tuition reimbursement procedures until she received an email from County Coordinator Wilbur Dean late in the ballgame. She said she was blindsided by the request and still hasn’t figured out its origins.

            “I don’t know how this came about. The department hadn’t been contacted about it. The chief and the union hadn’t been contacted about it. Somewhere along the way, someone contacted someone and got this thing rolling without the knowledge of the union or the Department of Public Safety,” Graves said. “I don’t know still, I haven’t been contacted by any of my members regarding this.”

            The union contract says employees who plan to advance from an EMT to paramedic must notify the county in advance of their intent to attend school and then submit a report at the end of each semester attesting they received a passing grade before they can be reimbursed for paramedic tuition. Graves said neither Maddox nor Willis followed those procedures and shouldn’t get tuition reimbursement. Paramedic tuition can cost more than $5,000 in the current era.

            Willis inquired by email about the reimbursement procedure on Aug. 31, 2018, and was referred the same day to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Willis completed his paramedic coursework on Dec. 16, 2019. He submitted his documentation for reimbursement in September 2020.  Maddox also completed his paramedic coursework on Dec. 16, 2019. He submitted his documentation for reimbursement around Oct. 1, 2020. Their requests for reimbursement didn’t follow contract guidelines, Graves said.

            County Commission Chairman Matt Brooks and his fellow county commissioners aren’t allowed to take part in union negotiating sessions. Brooks wasn’t present for Tuesday’s discussions about waiving tuition reimbursement requirements. He was contacted Tuesday night by Spotlight for comment.

            Brooks said he got the ball rolling on the reimbursement issue when one of the union members approached him about getting reimbursed for his paramedic school tuition. He said his effort to get the tuition reimbursement requirements waived for this individual and one other paramedic was based on common-sense.

            “He was going to paramedic school and he told them he was going to school but didn’t follow the contract notification process,” Brooks said. “The whole goal is to get people educated and to become paramedics and better serve our community. The intent and spirit was to reward people who want to better themselves by reimbursing them for paramedic school.”

            When the county was negotiating the current union contract in a bruising battle that lasted months, Brooks said one of the main complaints from the union was that Emergency Medical Services was losing people left and right because there was no reason to stay.

            “So now, how does it make sense that we’re not going to reimburse these employees for their paramedic school? How is that helping retain employees? That’s what I would argue,” Brooks said.

            Brooks said he understands what the union leaders are saying when they argue that waiving the tuition reimbursement requirements could lead to unfair labor lawsuits and other contractual issues, but he said if they are truly interested in the welfare of their members, they will take the county’s proposal for an MOU to the membership and say, “hey, we have an opportunity to keep some good paramedics and reimburse them in these instances and let the union body state whether they have problems or not and move on. That’s just me trying to use a common-sense approach.”

            “I told Wilbur (Dean) hopefully in the future they can revisit some of that language and make it easier for these people to become educated and reimbursed. I mean, don’t make it a bureaucratic process. If you go to school and get a C-grade every semester you turn in your report card and we’re going to give you reimbursement – the end. Don’t make it some big notification process for approval. Some things get over complicated when you’re dealing with unions and government,” Brooks added.

            Graves and Jones see the issue from a contract standpoint and they aren’t budging for now.

            “When we saw the contract, both sides came to an agreement that it’s fair. We agreed that the tuition agreement is fair. I don’t see why we should have to amend it now,” Jones said. “The paramedics (making the request) should have done their part. The county did theirs. The employees should have done their part.”

            Harrell said he has no quarrel with what Graves and Jones are saying, except that he knows the intent of the board was to suggest approving the reimbursement in a simple way to help employees.

            “But when you start altering, deviating from the (collective bargaining) agreement, ok, now we’re getting into an area where we need an MOU. The union’s got to ratify it, the board’s got to accept it and approve it, and officially there’s got to be a legal document drawn up,” Harrell said.

            He said the board intent was good.

            “It sounded like a good idea. The intent was there to do the right thing and try to help folks out, but I think this has turned into something bigger than that,” Harrell said.

            County officials say as many as four to six paramedics could be considered for the waivers, but the information isn’t solid. Total cost to the county could be about $20,000 to reimburse the paramedics for their tuition.

            Tuesday’s negotiating session may not be the end of the discussion.

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Levy County and IAFF Local 4069 Negotiations Meeting Tuesday, December 1, 2020; Posted December 1, 2020