Leadership Dispute and Formation of Breakaway Union
In 2010, a dispute over Torren Colcord's leadership of NEMSA led to a long running dispute over who controlled NEMSA. In the 2010 union officer election, NEMSA refused to recognize the validity of one candidate and allow the candidate to run for office. That candidate, Jimmy Gambone then ran a national write in ballot campaign. According to the Department of Labor, Gambone was eligible to run for office and should have been placed on the ballot, and was the winner of the election by write in votes. According to the Department of Labor, NEMSA violated federal law in refusing to seat the winning candidate. NEMSA instead seated another candidate for President, who promptly resigned. Torren Colcord, NEMSA's outgoing President was named Executive Director and remained in control of NEMSA. The DOL investigation and resolution to the complaint took nearly two years.
During the time period the complaint was investigated by the Department of Labor, Gambone and his supporters staged a break-in of the NEMSA offices and left the NEMSA offices with computers, files, and information. Gambone and his supporters then seized power, naming themselves the NEMSA Board of Directors and unilaterally unseating the existing NEMSA Board of Directors. Gambone and his agents then began conducting business as NEMSA while the NEMSA Board of Directors Gambone had unseated also continued conducting business as NEMSA. According to NEMSA, Gambone supporters attempted to intercept dues checks, write checks on NEMSA's bank accounts, and do business as NEMSA during this time
Gambone and his supporters then went on to form a rival union to NEMSA called United EMS Workers or UEMSW. Gambone and key supporters formed the leadership of this union, which affiliated with the American Federation of State County and Municipal workers. NEMSA has lost approximately 50% of its total membership to AFSCME/UEMSW.
Read more about this topic: National Emergency Medical Services Association
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