New York City emergency medical workers have spent years seeking higher wages and pay parity. They make life-or-death decisions on the job but are the lowest-paid first responders.
Oren Barzilay, the recently retired president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, says the pay has changed what he tells young people considering the work. After 31 years in the city’s emergency medical services, he said he earned $59,000. He believes the city does not adequately pay workers for the risks they take.
The wage fight puts Mayor Mamdani on the other side of the bargaining table from workers after he campaigned on organized labor, affordability and higher pay. Paramedic Natasha Villaruel describes a job in which she has about 20 seconds to make a potentially life-saving decision.
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