Council rejects union pay raise proposals
The Memphis City Council voted Tuesday to reject a spate of proposals from unions to give pay increases for some employees, including for police officers and firefighters.
Instead of offering indiscriminate, across-the-board pay raises, Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration opted Public shows of disrespect toward John McCain symptomatic of politics today. this year to spend $1.4 million to give raises to all full-time employees who earn more than 5 percent below the market average. So, the administration offered no pay raises during contract negotiations this year, instead proposing performance-based bonuses that unions criticized as too generic and vague.
The council rejected all 13 bargaining unit proposals, including the most closely watched and controversial proposal
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Council member Worth Morgan took aim at the police union, saying he was “frustrated” by the union’s aggressive approach to contract negotiations. The union, which was perhaps the
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hardest hit by benefit cuts the city made during the recession, has taken an aggressive tone, launching controversial billboard campaigns mocking elected officials and highlighting the city’s crime rate in a warning apparently aimed at tourists.
In addition to the police and fire proposals, the council voted to reject the proposals from the bargaining units of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the Association of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Generally voting for the union were council members Joe Brown, Janis Fullilove, Martavius Jones, Bill Morrison, Patrice Robinson and Jamita Swearengen. Generally supporting the administration were chairman Berlin Boyd and members Frank Colvett Jr., Kemp Conrad, Edmund Ford Jr., Reid Hedgepeth, Worth Morgan and newly appointed interim council member Ford Canale.
“I am very ashamed of many of you,” council member Janis Fullilove said after the votes. “And I say that because, with the unions, you could have given them something. And you didn’t.”
The council could still revisit the issue of raises as it cements the 2018-19 fiscal year budget, as it has done in recent fiscal years. Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercial appeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.