MONROE - City workers covered under the AFSCME union will get a 0.73-percent pay increase retroactive to the first of the year.
The Monroe Common Council approved the agreement with AFSCME Tuesday. Retroactive pay will be computed and given to employees in a lump sum, City Administrator Phil Rath said.
The contract cites 45 positions, ranging from hourly rates of $12.89 to $23.08 per hour, from throughout city government which will be affected by the agreement.
The rate of the pay increase is a recommendation through the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission based on Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or CPI-U. The CPI-U rate is projected roughly five months ahead in order for municipalities to determine what the number should be. The 0.73 percent was projected for Jan. 1 of this year when negotiations began in September. Numbers dropped in each month following, dipping as low as 0.12 percent in June, but have since risen to 0.51 percent for Nov. 1.
In September, the Madison-area AFSCME union representative Thor Backus asked Monroe aldermen to exceed the 0.73 rate due to the negative impact it would have on employees. He requested an increase of 1.5 percent, as it had been in 2015, telling aldermen that with new insurance plans, there would be at least one employee who will lose $500 of income to benefits.
Backus argued that other municipalities within the Madison area had gone over the CPI-U through what they considered a loophole, but Rath said Monroe did not see any such gap in the laws.
Rath said the increase cannot be exceeded under Act 10, a budget law Gov. Scott Walker passed in 2011 which limited the ability of union members and cities to negotiate contracts. Rath said while the city does not have to provide the maximum recommended CPI-U, it also cannot exceed it and more bargaining cannot be done.
Catherine Kehoe, who works as an engineering technician for the city as a member of AFSCME, said she has seen the strain a lack in income can have on her co-workers. Full-time employees have second jobs to make up the difference, she said.
"We were glad to see the support of the council was unanimous to support the contract," Kehoe said. "We're pleased to continue to serve our residents. Our obligation is to fulfill the best service we can for the city of Monroe. But in our eyes, it was not a reasonable number. Our representative has shown other governing bodies made concessions to increase that without violating the Act 10 rule."
The Monroe Common Council approved the agreement with AFSCME Tuesday. Retroactive pay will be computed and given to employees in a lump sum, City Administrator Phil Rath said.
The contract cites 45 positions, ranging from hourly rates of $12.89 to $23.08 per hour, from throughout city government which will be affected by the agreement.
The rate of the pay increase is a recommendation through the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission based on Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or CPI-U. The CPI-U rate is projected roughly five months ahead in order for municipalities to determine what the number should be. The 0.73 percent was projected for Jan. 1 of this year when negotiations began in September. Numbers dropped in each month following, dipping as low as 0.12 percent in June, but have since risen to 0.51 percent for Nov. 1.
In September, the Madison-area AFSCME union representative Thor Backus asked Monroe aldermen to exceed the 0.73 rate due to the negative impact it would have on employees. He requested an increase of 1.5 percent, as it had been in 2015, telling aldermen that with new insurance plans, there would be at least one employee who will lose $500 of income to benefits.
Backus argued that other municipalities within the Madison area had gone over the CPI-U through what they considered a loophole, but Rath said Monroe did not see any such gap in the laws.
Rath said the increase cannot be exceeded under Act 10, a budget law Gov. Scott Walker passed in 2011 which limited the ability of union members and cities to negotiate contracts. Rath said while the city does not have to provide the maximum recommended CPI-U, it also cannot exceed it and more bargaining cannot be done.
Catherine Kehoe, who works as an engineering technician for the city as a member of AFSCME, said she has seen the strain a lack in income can have on her co-workers. Full-time employees have second jobs to make up the difference, she said.
"We were glad to see the support of the council was unanimous to support the contract," Kehoe said. "We're pleased to continue to serve our residents. Our obligation is to fulfill the best service we can for the city of Monroe. But in our eyes, it was not a reasonable number. Our representative has shown other governing bodies made concessions to increase that without violating the Act 10 rule."