UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD REGION 28

INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED EMERGENCY PROFESSIONALS, LOCAL NO. 1

and Case 28-CB-092161

PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL TRANSPORT, INC. d/b/a PMT AMBULANCE

APPEAL for comprehensive enforcement

Cases 28-CA-22175

28-CA-22289

28-CA-22338

28-CA-22350

28-CA-22519

9th

 Circuit Order No. 11-71785 (September 23rd, 2011

On behalf of:

INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED EMERGENCY PROFESSIONALS OF ARIZONA, LOCAL #1

Background

1) (a) At all material times, the Employer has been a corporation with an office and place of

business in Mesa, Arizona (the Respondent’s facility), and has been engaged in the business of providing

emergency medical services and transportation.

 

(b) In conducting its operations during the 24-month period ending Respondent purchased

and received at the Employer’s facility goods valued in excess of $50,000 directly from points outside

the State of Arizona.

(c) At all material times, the Employer has been an employer engaged in commerce within the

meaning of Section 2(2), (6), and (7) of the Act.

2. At all material times, Respondent has been a labor organization within the meaning of Section

2(5) of the Act.

3. At all material times, the following individuals held the positions set forth opposite their

respective names and have been agents of Respondent within the meaning of Section 2(13) of the Act:

Joshua S. Barkley - President

Mathew Schwartz- Secretary-Treasurer

4). (a) The following employees of the Employer (the Unit) constitute a unit appropriate for the

purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:

All full-time field paramedics, EMT’s IEMT’s and registered nurses; excluding administrative staff

individuals, support services or personnel not directly operating in the field as an EMS provider, guards,

office clericals and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.

Request for Review:

The Regio decided to submitted an informal settlement for charges in case 28 CA-117950 for suspending

unit members without negotiating with the union. This case alone is the 4th

 and 5th

 unit member that

fell victim to the serial violations of this ruthless employer, however, now we are at unit members 6. 7.

8. 9. And 10. Unit member #8 was the Union VP and negotiator who was suspended for a policy that

did not exist, first without pay, then with pay. Brad Taylor is the Union VP an previous NLRB Federally

subpoenaed witness who has now been retaliated against by the same management crew that was

involved in the cases that were upheld by the 9th

 circuit. There is a cease and desist order agains

retaliation against Union officers and/or members for participating in union activities, yet PMT proceeds

uninhibited by the Region.

August 5th

 of 2013 represented case number.28-CA-089300 and case 28-CA-099144 where the same

PMT Ambulance management team had retaliated against Tony Lopez, previous Union VP, now on

appeal at your level and has been since January of 2014. PMT Ambulance has retaliated against Federal

witnesses since 2009 and continues to do so now without inhibition or enforcement of law.

 

8 U.S. Code § 1513 - Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant:

(d) There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section.

(e) Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including

interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement

officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal

offense, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(f) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as

those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

(g) A prosecution under this section may be brought in the district in which the official proceeding

(whether pending, about to be instituted, or completed) was intended to be affected, or in which the

conduct constituting the alleged offense occurred .

These ongoing retaliatory actions can no longer go ignored. The violation of a 9th

 circuit court order is a

crime, the violation of the above codes is a crime, yet the employer goes uninhibited and even

emboldened by the lack of law enforcement.

When the NLRB has a non-compliant party, they send the case to District court for an enforcement

order. In standard Labor cases, this would be the logical next step. However, as noted in the Unions

appeal In January 0f 2014 on the above case numbers, these infractions are a matter of failed

enforcement by the Region. We have a 9th

 circuit court order in place to cease and desist retaliating

against unit members. Yet that continues to date with the last case the VP of the ICEP, Brad Taylor.

We now have failure to follow new NLRB guidelines for the 5th

  – 11th time, and all settlements or

infractions have been in 2014. It’s not a matter of understanding; it is a matter of respect for law. This

company has declared Bankruptcy nationwide, multiple Medicare fraud cases and a history of anti-

union tactics across the country. This labor-management relationship has an 8 year history, and

although the company has been sold twice, the players are the same and the violators of law continue

to operate without interference from Region 28 or the NLRB. The relentless ULP, retaliation and

conspired actions against the ICEP and their representative is a matter of historical and documented

history. Yet we continue to play this “settlement” game. Which has clearly f ailed and is a modification of

9th Circuit court order # 11-71785 upholding cases 28-CA-22175 28-CA-22289 28-CA-22338 28-CA-

22350 28-CA-22519.

As we move forward, they have again retaliated against another Union Officer and negotiator, Matthew

Swartz for a purported violation that was not on duty and violated no policy. He was forced to meet

with 5 Fire Department officers and 3 firefighters with a PMT Regional Manager and serial retaliator Bev

Lemoine hosting the interviews. The Union was not notified, the President’s request to attend was

ignored by Rural Metro Counsel Robert Coyle, who defended the action as a non-disciplinary meeting

 

for a non-policy violation.

Additionally, Robert Coyle, attorney for the company, has now threatened to sue the President if these

matters are discussed during correspondence for collective bargaining.

The ICEP has been promised many times by the Region that no formal settlement will be entered into

without a CBA in place, due to the lengthy unilateral retaliation by Rural Metro. Yet, in the Grand

Settlement of 2012, Cases 28-CA-022175 28-CA-022289 28-CA-022338 28-CA-022350 28-CA-022519

28-CA-023399 28-CA-060435 28-CA-061218 28-CA-062824, that did not happen, and the door was open

to continue pre-planned retaliation against Union organizers and officers.

Thus our Appeal to the Board for enforcement of the order, and an injunction until enforcement is

verified. We request this action based on the 9th

 circuit court order that is in place and repeatedly

ignored by Region 28 after the sale to Rural Metro. We grieve this action secondary to Rural Metros

proven veracity to retaliate and violate new labor standards after settling them repeatedly. We grieve

this action because no CBA is place, as promised prior to any formal settlements, to finish the deal that

was started 8 years ago. We refuse to play victim in any circumstance due to the lack of enforcement in

this case. The 10th

 circuit has issued decisions in the past stating that NLRB Region Directors lack the

authority to “Modify” any District order, yet it is done with abandon in this case.

PLEA

We ask that the Board issue a 10j injunction against Rural Metro to cease and desist violation of Labor

Law, retaliation against Federal witnesses, and retaliation against Union Officers until thorough

enforcement has taken place at the highest level. We ask that all action against the Union be held in

abeyance until the Regional Directors promise of a CBA has been completed. We were told that this is

an endurance race, and not a sprint. We were not told that there would be no enforcement of law

when crimes are committed.

Joshua S. Barkley, ICEP President

Copies emailed to:

Cornelle Overstreet, Regional Director, Region 28

William Mabry. Attorney for the General Counsel, Region 28

Robert Coyle, Attorney for the Respondent.

,