By Tyler Marr

Councillors freeze salary for 2018, add 1% boost for union staff bargaining

Nov 19, 2017 | 2:38 PM

In a move to send a message the city rejects provincial cuts, council has frozen their wage for 2018, bucking the government example of a 3.5 per cent rollback.

As elected officials salaries in Prince Albert are tied to that of provincial MLA’s, the 3.5 per cent cut in Regina would have slashed salaries here at home on Jan. 1

But after the public caught wind of the plan to slide back councillor wages, Mayor Greg Dionne said he fielded “quite a few” messages and phones calls from citizens branding him as a hypocrite.

“When the public called me and said, ‘Greg, you sound like a hypocrite. You have spoken out for the workers of our province by saying no cutbacks and then you take one?’” he said. “They are right… I support zeros when you are in a tough time. Look at our departments, they are getting zero. What I don’t support is rollbacks.”

Each ward councillor would have seen around $2,200 nixed from their annual salary. Just north of $3,000 would have come off Dionne’s cheque.

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Before wrapping up budget talks Saturday, the motion to freeze salaries and pay councillors compensation in lieu of the cut was presented and passed unanimously. Prior to the vote, a number of elected officials used this time as an opportunity to fire back at the province and it’s austerity measures.

“Freezing salaries from time to time is reasonable. After all, we do come upon hard times and that is what we are in right now,” Coun. Don Cody said.

He took issue with the $9 million that came off the table for teachers earlier this year, even after a collective agreement with the province was signed, saying this is “not what we as a decent society do.”

Sympathetic and understanding of this was Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick, who works day-to-day as an educator.

“Teachers and workers of this province never got us into this mess…. Why should the workers of this province be the ones that suffer?” he said. “It sounds selfish on our part in some ways but I don’t feel too guilty about supporting this motion.”

Dionne agreed and asked any public pushback on the topic be directed his way.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING THRESHOLD SET AT 1%

For the second year, salaries for out-of-scope and union employees were to see a zero per cent increase.

Citing annual cost of living increases, Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp maintained that no increase was “not palatable” and moved to refund the $134,350 line item.

“We want a well run city and part of a well run city is respecting our staff and showing them that we want the good work to be done,” she said. “I just don’t find it appropriate.”

As four others agreed with her, a 5-4 vote saw the bargaining threshold for collective agreements with CUPE 882, 160 and out of scope staff reinstated.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr