Leon County paramedics and emergency medical technicians have decided by a fairly small margin against joining a union.

The county's rank-and-file Emergency Medical Services employees voted 27-20 against joining the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. The election was held Monday and Tuesday at the county's Fleet Management facility, with results announced Tuesday morning.

Bryan Hamrick, a union official from Polk County, said he was disappointed in the results. But he said another union effort could occur next year if employees are interested in pursuing one.

"I think they have a lot of young employees who don't have a lot of experience in the working world and may not have realized the value of a contract," Hamrick said after the election.

EMS Chief Tom Quillin said he was pleased with the results, and he pledged to address employee concerns that led to the union effort.

"We certainly recognize that there are issues that need to be dealt with," he said. "And we're going to do that."

In May, the union petitioned the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission to become the exclusive bargaining agent for county EMS workers. That came after 38 of 51 full-time paramedics and EMTs signed petition cards supporting a union election.

Some EMS workers hoped the union could help them get better pay and benefits and improve the ambulance system itself. Hamrick said workers were particularly concerned about pay differences among some emergency workers as well as the number of paramedics and ambulances on the road.

The hourly starting wage is $8.78 for EMTs and $10.71 for paramedics. However, EMS workers in rural stations work more hours each year to earn roughly the same annual salaries as those who work in city limits. Workers at the rural station have 24-hour shifts while those in the city have 12-hour shifts. Most emergency calls are inside city limits.

"Quite a few of them felt they should be compensated the same," Hamrick said.

Quillin said the union effort temporarily put a halt to any workplace changes. "Now that the issue has been decided, we can move forward with correcting some of those issues and concerns," he said.

The county's proposed budget calls for the addition of a new ambulance, new EMS workers to staff it and pay raises of up to 8 percent for EMS workers. County Administrator Parwez Alam, in a written statement, said he was pleased EMS workers decided they don't need union representation.

"When a union comes in," he said, "it changes the relationship between management and employees because all work conditions must be negotiated. EMS employees can continue to discuss any issue with the chief or me without having to go through a union representative."

Only two of the 49 workers eligible to take part in the election did not vote, and both reportedly were out of town. EMS workers could mount a new union effort in 12 months. Assistant County Administrator Vince Long said he hoped any future vote would be close to unanimous against union representation.

The union is a division of the National Association of Government Employees, which represents about 10,000 workers in 36 states.