Saint John’s mayor says he will not support any wage increases for city staff because of the “current economic uncertainty” caused by COVID-19.
The comments by Don Darling come as a tentative agreement for Local 18 — the city’s inside workers — is expected to come before council Monday night.
“If there are any raises, bonuses or barriers in this agreement — and I expect there to be — I cannot support it and I will ask councillors to not support it as well,” Darling wrote in a lengthy blog post on Friday.
Darling said the city’s labour unions are “well compensated” and, unlike taxpayers, will not be at risk of losing hours or their jobs during the pandemic.
“We cannot give raises with taxpayer money when taxpayers are losing their jobs. Our employee groups need to take 0% raises, at a minimum,” he wrote.
We need to ask our employee groups to take 0% raises, at a minimum, for the foreseeable future. Pushing through long-term agreements amid so much economic uncertainty is irresponsible, unethical, and I will not support it. #stability #sjstrong #CanadaCovid https://t.co/l648a4X5Al
— Don Darling (@dondarlingSJ) March 20, 2020
Darling will present a motion at Monday night’s meeting which, among other things, would direct the city manager to work with employee groups on a four-year wage freeze and the “flexibility to reduce wage costs as necessary.”
The motion also asks that council reject, in principle any labour agreement “that is not at minimum a wage freeze and with restrictive clauses removed, impending necessary management, productivity and cost flexibility.”
“These are unprecedented times. Now is the time for swift and decisive actions showing care for our citizens, our economy, and our city’s future, not for opportunism and political advantage,” wrote Darling.
A separate motion by Coun. Sean Casey calls for Common Council to reduce the mayor’s salary by $10,000 and lower the salary of the deputy mayor and each councillor by 10 per cent.
Darling said he already volunteered to take a $10,000 pay cut in his salary this past Tuesday.
“We must control our budgets and put the city in a position to invest in those areas that will help us grow and thrive. That was the case in 2016, last week, and has never been more important than today.”
