Though Metro Council members describe a plan to raise pay for Baton Rouge police officers, firefighters and city-parish employees as a good starting point that may need further changes, the proposal appears poised for approval at this evening’s meeting.
“I don’t think it will be a contentious issue,” says Councilman Trae Welch. “It’s not everything that everybody wanted, but it is somewhere in the middle. And ultimately, this is something that we have to address, because this will affect the parish for 10, 15, 20 years down the road.”
Under the pay raise plan, city-parish employees will receive a raise of 2% or $500, whichever is greater. Minimum wage will rise from the current $7.25 per hour to $9.30 or $9.65, depending on the position. If approved at this evening’s meeting, the raises would go into effect on April 4. The pay hike will cost the city-parish an estimated $6.6 million annually, and about $4.9 million for the remainder of this year. To offset the raises, employees hired after July 1 will see a reduction in the retirement and sick leave benefits that current employees receive.
“It’s not what I had hoped for exactly, but it’s certainly better than what we have now and I think it’s a good starting point,” says Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle. “This is an issue that has been near and dear to my heart ever since I’ve been on the Metro Council, and so for the administration and the unions to be able to come together and finally reach an agreement is a great thing to me.”
Marcelle was among the Metro Council members who unsuccessfully pushed for across-the-board pay raises to be included in the $830 million 2015 budget that was approved in December. Since then, Mayor Kip Holden’s administration has been working on the pay raise plan and negotiating with unions for the police officers and firefighters.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Councilman John Delgado says. “I’m glad to see it does not cut benefits to the extend first proposed and I’m happy we’re going to be able to provide our employees a pay raise, even if it’s not as much as our consultant had recommended in the pay study.”
Councilman Buddy Amoroso calls the plan “a very fair compromise.”
“And I think this will help the city attract workers in the future,” he adds.
The Metro Council convenes at 4 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda, which includes more specifics on changes to retirement benefits under the pay plan (pages 15-16).
—Steve Sanoski
