Rural/Metro Employee Shareholders Voice Concerns at Company's Annual Meeting

(Scottsdale, AZ)–Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) employed by the Rural/Metro corporation (NASDAQ: RURL) and members of Teamsters Local 375 attended the company’s annual shareholders meeting.

Employee shareholders expressed their frustration with the company’s reluctance to bargain for improved wages as part of a new contract in the greater Buffalo, New York area, and asked questions about the Board of Directors’ compensation agreement and the incentive plan for executives.

Almost 400 EMTs and paramedics have been working in the Buffalo area with a contract extension that lasts through December. The city of Buffalo and surrounding towns contract with Rural/Metro for ambulance services. Rural/Metro pays emergency service professionals less on average than those working in other cities in western New York, such as Albany, Rochester and Syracuse.

Voicing his concern about the apparent disconnect between upper management and the workers, Dennis Wellspeak, a 19-year Rural/Metro paramedic, represented by Teamsters Local 375, said, “We are on the front lines saving lives and don’t even make the same wages as other paramedics and EMTs in the area. When the people running our ambulances are treated poorly it disrespects our whole community.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.