Leadership Profile: Local 95 President Chris Cary
As president of Local 95, paramedic Chris Cary understands the importance of union membership. Cary, who has worked in EMS for 14 years, has witnessed first-hand how the union fights to protect his fellow EMS professionals with Worcester EMS of UMass Memorial Healthcare in Worcester, Mass.
"Should you need protection you have the ability to reach the highest levels of management to press your case," said Cary. "This year alone two members were rightfully returned to their jobs thanks to this union."
Cary, an avid guitar player and snowboarder when he isn't saving lives, was surprised when his fellow employees voted him to the position of president.
"I have found that you don't often decide to take a leadership role, it finds you," said Cary. "I was just minding my own business when I was approached and told I had been nominated. I hadn't been at WEMS for very long and assumed I wouldn't win."
After his successful election, Cary dove headlong into the new role, citing his insistence on having a strong voice and a "compulsion to problem-solve."
Cary hopes to continue strengthening the local, looking to expand the relationship his department has with the rest of the hospital system in which they are based.
Cary said, "We're a small union in respect to the rest of the hospital, and I'd like to see us foster closer ties with our non-EMS coworkers to be heard as an even greater voice."
When asked what the union means to him, Cary responds that the union is a voice that "must be heard by management. As a union you're not a voice in the wilderness or a couple of staffers squeaking. You force management to actively negotiate and that, by default alone, creates compromise."
If you're interested in learning more about Local 95 and the EMS professionals of Worcester EMS, please feel free to visit them on the web at www.worcesterems.com.