stripper-witch:

leepace71:

Yep.

maidenfed:

I’m almost even afraid to say anything already! As an EMS worker I have been given food like, every shift. Subs, chicken, kebabs, pizza, you name it. It’s someone’s way of saying thank you. 

And I love it! I really appreciate it! But I also get paid dog shit, and honestly all the free pizza in the world doesn’t mean anything compared to say, compensation. A raise in my pay. 

As a person who’s advanced level with several years of experience I still only get 13$ an hr and this is a major metropolitan area, I made much less when I worked in a small town. I work long gruelling shifts which have been made even longer because of the nature of this pandemic, 16hr shifts are not uncommon (and when I worked in a small town, 24 and 48hr shifts were regular). I’m tired, I have bills to pay, and again, I don’t want to sound entitled or ungrateful! 

There have been signs that say “Thank you to our heroes!” I’ve been thanked every time I buy a cup of coffee! I really appreciate the support, but I didn’t pursue this job to be called a hero or to have people thank me, I just like what I do and also have rent and college debt and car payments and medical bills. 

The signs, the thank you’s, the food, it’s all really empty when I know a coworker is struggling to afford their rent, or a friend is behind on medical bills, or my company refused to pay for a covid test “because if you are wearing PPE you shouldn’t get it” (not at all accurate). 

This is not about the individuals that support us or thank us, but the system in place that refuses to compensate us for what we do, and how I KNOW it will turn against us when this is over. 

And in the notes I see a lot of calls to strike, I just want to say, in most placed it is ILLEGAL for EMS to strike because we are emergency workers. Union or no union we CANNOT strike.