Union Rescue Squad faces potential closure after contract disagreement with Pender EMS and Fire
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The future of a rural rescue squad hangs in the balance after failing to reach a contract agreement with Pender EMS and Fire.
The Union Rescue squad has served the Willard area in Pender County for more than 40 years.
In early September, Pender EMS and Fire, Inc.—which is a private contractor under the county—sent the rescue squad a new contract which would include them in the county’s system plan.
Union Rescue Squad Chief Diane Giddeons disagreed with parts of the contract, including a requirement to add an additional emergency vehicle, which she says isn’t needed, and changes to how volunteers respond to calls.
“We can’t retain enough volunteers to have two a night, to stay here all night, for the possibility of going to a call, getting to the call, and being said ‘we don’t need you,’” Giddeons explained.
After Union Rescue didn’t sign the contract, they were sent a 90-day termination notice.
In a statement provided to WWAY, Pender EMS and Fire said Union Rescue Squad was given 30 days to inquire about the new contract. The full statement reads:
“Pender EMS and Fire has bent over backwards over the last twenty years to assist and support Union Rescue Squad’s operations in Pender County. Within the Union district, our agency has staffed at no cost to Union Rescue Squad, a paid Paramedic 24 hours a day and staffed the paid daytime EMT, leaving Union Rescue Squad to only cover nights with a volunteer EMT. Over the last year our agency has been attempting to work with Union Rescue Squad’s leadership to rectify issues that have become an increasing problem.
On September 12, 2024, the Pender EMS and Fire Board of Directors sent Union Rescue Squad a new contract that guaranteed its involvement and continued role in the Pender County EMS system plan. This contract addressed and corrected many issues that both parties had identified through negotiations over the last year. This includes:
- A pay increase to Union Rescue Squad’s annual funding which preserves its ability to bill for transports.
- Relocation of Pender EMS and Fire paid staff to a separate location in the Union district, from which it would operate a 24-hour paramedic ambulance. Union Rescue would remain in its current building and would continue to respond to calls in its district with its volunteer staff. This relocation by Pender EMS and Fire would allow both agencies to respond together but would give Union Rescue Squad back their sole identity, something it has been continuously requesting. This would also an additional responding ambulance to the system plan, something that doesn’t exist today.
- Union Rescue Squad would only be expected to respond to at least 60% of the dispatched calls in its district. Pender EMS and Fire would continue to respond to 100% of all dispatched calls with paid staff. This guarantees no lapse of coverage to the citizens within this district.
- As a continued participate in the Pender County system plan, Union Rescue Squad would still have the ability and opportunity to train with Pender EMS and Fire staff and utilize our training facilities.
Union Rescue Squad leadership was given a 30-day period to ask questions about the new contract, so that we could ensure all points were understood. In response Union Rescue Squad raised questions through legal counsel, to which Pender EMS and Fire responded.
With no new contract still in place, Union Rescue Squad was then sent a 90-day notice of termination of the current contract which would omit it from the Pender County EMS system plan, ceasing operations. As made clear in Pender EMS and Fire’s response to Union Rescue Squad’s legal counsel, Union Rescue Squad may still accept the new contract and sign within this 90-day window as it our wish to keep it a part of the system plan. It is not our intent to shut Union Rescue Squad down, despite the false narrative that has been spread.”
In response, Chief Giddeons claimed Union Rescue Squad was not included in the negotiation process.
“It’s non-negotiable. You either sign it or shut your doors. Who writes a contract that way? Particularly when we’ve worked together for so many years,” Giddeons said.
As it stands now, Union Rescue Squad has until January 22 to either sign the contract, or shut down.
“If we sign the contract, as I’ve already stated, volunteers are going to fade away. So the program, the place, it will fade away,” Giddeons said.
