14 Deming firefighter/EMTs give two weeks' notice over low pay

DEMING – Social media blew up over the weekend with support for 14 Deming firefighters/EMTs who surprised city officials on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022 by tendering their two weeks’ notice at the John Strand Municipal Building, 309 S. Gold St. The 14 city employees cited low pay as the reason for tendering their resignations.

A flood of social media posts began to appear on Facebook, with concerns of whether the city would be able to provide emergency services with nearly half of the Deming Fire Department personnel depleted.

City Administrator Aaron Sera was at the Legislative Session in Santa Fe on Friday and was scheduled to meet with Union 4251 representatives at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at City Hall.

Sera was the target of the social media blitz over the weekend despite his claims to have worked on behalf of the Deming Fire Department for better pay. “The city provided the firefighter/EMTs with a 6.5 percent pay raise and bonus incentives that amounted to retaining bonuses of $2,000 to $10,000,” Sera said. “We guaranteed another three percent raise in July, and they came with the resignations.”

The city did pay plans with at least nine different municipalities that compare to keep pay scales competitive. According to Robert Sanchez, President of the New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Association, one DFD first responder has been with the department for 15 years and is making 13.45 an hour. Sanchez is convinced the City of Deming is not bargaining in good faith.

"Deming firefighters/EMTs are working a 48-hour shift, with 96 off. That breaks down differently from the 40-hour work week they used to compare," Sanchez stated. "In calculating some of the hours worked during a pay period, these guys are putting in upwards of 120 hours. "How can that be fair. Management is not foolish; they know exactly what they are doing. They have money to give the Deming Police officers who received raises. We just want what is fair."

In 2020, the union missed the deadline for coming to the bargaining table and Sera admitted to seeing that deadline slip by. “The six percent pay raise in 2021 was the largest of any department in the city works,” Sera said. “I am saddened by the resignations and the city has been busy trying to secure ambulance services for our area.”

“Now hiring” signs have been placed in front of the Deming Fire Department at 309 S. Gold Street. Demonstrators were out in front of the city hall at 3:30 p.m. on Monday along with New Mexico TV news crews.

“All they had to do was say, ‘hey, can we open negotiations and just talk about this,” Sera told the Headlight.’” “I would have worked with them even though we gave them a raise last year, with incentives, and stability pay the year before. Instead, we have resignations and I get blamed.”

As of Tuesday morning, state union president Sanchez said the Deming firefighter/EMTs continue to be unhappy with the pay scale and contradicted claims that the pay scale is comparable to other fire departments in the area.

Sanchez said there is no breakdown in communication between the two parties, "Deming's front line first responders want to be treated fairly and paid a fair wage.

A union representative for Local 4251 submitted an email to the Deming Headlight for publication but did not want to be identified for this article. Another representative called the Headlight an asked that the contents of the email is not published.

The firefighters who submitted their two weeks’ notice are taking a stand for better pay and for the job performance they have executed over the past year. By a statewide panel of peers, Deming Fire Department Firefighter/EMTs were honored as the Emergency Medical Services of the year Award for 2020 in the entire state of New Mexico.

The award requires competing departments to nominate a neighboring fire department. The Las Cruces district was supportive of the Deming firehouse and EMS work.

Deming EMS answered 3,442 calls in 2020. Officials for the department said EMTs were on pace to eclipse that number in 2021.

EMS runs the whole spectrum of calls from pediatrics, to heart related, accidents and injuries, diabetes, trauma, and vehicle rollovers. DFD is staffed with19 EMTs. The entire battalion is either a certified EMT or working on certification.

The local EMTs have provided ride-a-longs for neighboring fire departments who have EMS students in training.

"I want to make sure we can negotiate in good faith,” Sera said.

Sera did reach out to local union president Ernesto Gomez and a meeting with firefighters Matt Hudson and Victor Salas was slated for Tuesday.

Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-546-2611 (leave a message) or biarmendariz@demingheadlight.com.

This article originally appeared on Deming Headlight: 14 Deming firefighter/EMTs give two weeks' notice over low pay