A three-judge Commonwealth Court panel ruled Wednesday that paramedics employed by the Philadelphia Fire Department are entitled to the same collective-bargaining rights as firefighters.
The ruling reverses a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board decision that would have removed the department's nearly 200 paramedics from the firefighters' bargaining, according to The Associated Press.
In the September 2010 decision, the labor board said that the paramedics were not covered by a state law giving firefighters and police collective-bargaining rights, stating that any firefighting done by the responders was "merely incidental."
The panel ruled, however, that the paramedics are covered by the law because they perform interrelated duties alongside their firefighting counterparts that are "equally necessary" in battling fires.
"The medical services now provided primarily by (paramedics) have historically been an integrated service of any fire department," Judge Patricia McCullough wrote in the opinion. "It would be patently unfair to say that (paramedics) do not 'fight fires' when, in fact, they are present at fire scenes; they monitor the health of those persons who are doing physical battle with the fire; and, when needed, they are called upon to do physical battle with the fire themselves."
Mayor Michael Nutter's administration is currently reviewing its options and has not ruled out an appeal, a spokesman told the AP.
