190633

The City of Portland ordains: 

Section 1.  The Council finds:

1. The City and PFFA are parties to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the period of July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023. The Union is the sole collective bargaining representative on behalf of employees working in classifications listed in Schedule A of the CBA.
2. The City created the Crisis Medic (Community Health Medic)classification September 29, 2021, ordinance 190582, with the existing salary grade 54, which currently has a range of $22.37 to $33.55 per hour and $46,530 to $69,784 annually for a full time employee.
3. The City has an interest in hiring persons into the Community Health Medic classification to provide an additional first responder for calls that do not require the expertise of a firefighter, and to provide services in new programs that include Portland Street Response and the Community Health Assess & Treat (CHAT).  
4. Members of Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) have historically responded to the calls and therefore the work has been performed by PFFA bargaining unit members.
5. The City and the PFFA have an interest in moving this work from Firefighters to Community Health Medics.
6. PFFA has an interest in representing the Community Health Medics, and the City has an interest in voluntarily recognizing PFFA as the exclusive representative of employees hired into the Community Health Medic Classification.
7. The City and PFFA have an interest in adopting a letter of agreement establishing the working conditions of the employees hired into the Community Health Medic classification and establishing them as non-sworn, represented employees of Portland Fire & Rescue with the classification specification adopted by ordinance 190582.
8.  The City also has an interest in ensuring that qualified employees serve as an field training officer for Community Health Medics, and that such employees receive field training officer pay in accordance with paramedic field training officer pay in the CBA.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. The Director of the Bureau of Human Resources is authorized to enter into a Letter of Agreement between the City and PFFA to address the interests stated in the findings in this Ordinance.

Section 2.  The Council declares that an emergency exists because delay would unnecessarily delay the orderly implementation of the provisions of this Letter of Agreement; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect after its passage by the Council.