911 operators lobby at Capitol Hill
Last week, members of AFSCME Local 3090 who work for the City of Los Angeles as police services representatives (PSRs also known as 911 dispatchers) visited Washington, D.C. to lobby for the passage of the Enhancing First Response Act and Next Generation 911 Act.
911 dispatchers answer the most important calls of our lives and are usually the first point of contact during a crisis. Dispatchers provide immediate instructions for callers, gather important information, and coordinate the response of police, fire and paramedics. Their specialized training allows them to make quick decisions, which can be the difference between life and death before physical responders arrive.
Although they provide crucial services to the first responder system, 911 dispatchers are classified as clerical workers. This prevents them from negotiating with the City of LA over identifying certain afflictions, such as heart attacks and strokes, as presumptive conditions. “Because we are clerical there is no tracking system in place to identify the number of dispatchers that have suffered these conditions, even though we do,” said Larry Gates, president of AFSCME Local 3090. “We have people that have had strokes, heart attacks or high blood pressure, and clearly it’s due to the job because of the critical calls that we take.”
If passed, the Enhancing First Response Act will reclassify 911 dispatchers from clerical workers to protective service workers in the federal Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). This reclassification would better reflect the life-saving work they perform each day and allow them to negotiate similar workers’ compensation coverage as other first responders.
Additionally, 911 dispatchers were on Capitol Hill lobbying for the passage of the Next Generation 911 Act. This legislation would modernize the nation’s emergency communications systems, which would strengthen public safety and ensure first responders have access to real-time information during emergencies.
Local 3090 members met with multiple California State Representatives to discuss the importance of these two pieces of legislation. “We had really good, positive discussions with both republican and democrat legislators. Everyone we spoke to was receptive,” said Gates.
Lobbying is one of the many ways our union pushes the importance of what we do as public service workers and affects positive changes in our workplace and communities. “I 100% recommend members take an active part in their union by lobbying. Whether it is on the state level or federal level, it is important to advocate for the work that we do,” said Gates. “I’m honored that myself and my union brothers and sisters were given the opportunity to speak in support of this legislation because no one knows our story better than we do.”
Next Generation 911 Act was introduced in the House of Representatives but has not been voted on yet. The Enhancing First Response Act was passed in the Senate and is waiting to be voted on by the House of Representatives.
Sign the petition today to support reclassifying 911.