. . Mohawk Ambulance employee?s UNION I Albany. New-York rally support on 6th day of strike Two lawmakers, members of more than 20 unions among 150 pickets By LARA JAKES Stat? writer Striking Mohawk Ambulance Scr~ vices workers. supported by members ol'more than 20 local unions and two Democratic state lawmakers, walked a picket line ISO Thursday in protest ofwhat they called dangerous- ly long hours and law pay. the sixth day of the walkout by about 50 emergency medical techni~ clans and paramedics, the crowd ral- lied outside the company's Albany station on Quail Street. The. station ?as eerily quiet, as A?Ioltawk ambulances amided eon- frontation by driving around city streets while waiting m_res;mnd to calls. Schenectady-based Mohawk. the region?s largest ambulance service, pays its lower wages than its top two primate competitors. Starting liMTs. who come to the job with at least l20 hours of training. earn hourly wages of$5.75 an hour. Begin- ning paramedics get paid $7.50 an hour. and they are required to have had more than 1.000 hours of training, completed a hospital internship and passed a state certification exam. 3y comparison, Empire Ambu? lanee Services of'l'roy pays its 'Eourly wags J?betm'cn?? and and itsj?g?negligs tm?eimund??). said owner Steve At Capital l51striet Ambulance Service, which is based in Albany, liMTs make an hounofficials said. Mohawk responds to an estimated 56.000 calls for help a year in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Columbia and Schenectady counties. ?You are highly trained employees am I right?" state Sen. Catherine Abate of Manhattan boomed through a megaphone Thursday evening. ?So we need to treat you with the respect and dignity that you deserve, and that means wages you deserve." Abate, a candidate For the Democratic nomi- nation for state attorney general. was on hand with state Sen. Neil Bleslin, The pickets responded: ?Union busting it's disg usting.? Some of the strikers employees said the low wages Force them to work another job to support themselves. Others said they could not afford rent on their own. was going to more out. but I can't at these wages," said EMT Greg ?Win It lcr, 24, who began at A'lohawk last july and lives with his parents in (ilenyille- Reached later in Schenectady. MO- hawk Vice President Richard Brandt said there has been no progress toward a settlement with 'Ibamsters Local 294 but said the company would welcome the union back to the hat- gaining table at any time. St) unionized workers struck on Saturday, leaving the company's remaining 100 employees and manag- ers to cover the extra shifts. Brandt said the strike has not hinden-tlservice. but the company has hired l0w1irket's. Mohawk is owned by health care entrepreneur Peter A-lcl?iirtlon, owner of Kingsway Arms Nursing Center Inc. in Schenectady. 'lhe 160? bed facility is one of the region's la nursing homes. in IWZ, Kingsway Arms reported pmlits of$355,308 on total retenues of more than $7.4 million.