The Buffalo News, February 1, 2008

The Buffalo News, February 1, 2008

The Buffalo News

Brown backs substantial raises for 92 seasonal workers

By Brian Meyer NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 02/01/08 6:37 AM

Mayor Byron W. Brown wants to give 92 seasonal workers who pick up trash and perform other city chores substantial raises, and he insists he doesn’t need the control board’s approval to do so.

But control board officials disagree, saying the panel must review the plan even though the city says it can finance the raises without going over budget.

Brown said his plan to pay seasonal employees $11.11 an hour retroactive to last July will bring them into compliance with Buffalo’s Living Wage Law. Most of the employees make $8.25, so the increase would boost their hourly wages by 35 percent. About a third of the city’s seasonal workers currently make between $9.25 and $10.25. They do not receive any health insurance benefits.

“I believe that it’s now time to give our city seasonal workers a salary increase that conforms to the Living Wage,” Brown said.

The mayor submitted a budget amendment to the Common Council, and lawmakers could approve the item as early as Tuesday. City Finance Commissioner Janet Penksa said the raises will cost the city about $350,000.

“We have a surplus in our personal services account, where we will be funding these [raises],” Penksa said.

“The statute is clear that the control board weighs in only when we make a financial plan modification.”

But Bryce Link, a control board analyst who attended Brown’s news conference, disagreed. Any action that would result in higher costs to the city needs to be reviewed by the oversight panel, he said.

While any talk of legal action would be premature, it’s conceivable such a dispute could land in court if neither side softens its position.

Control Board Chairman Paul J. Kolkmeyer said there’s a related issue that must be discussed by the panel.

“The control board has not addressed the issue of the Living Wage just yet,” Kolkmeyer said Thursday. “The control board has to sign off on these things, but there’s a difference of opinion on that.”

The colliding viewpoints were evident Thursday when the chairwoman of Buffalo’s Living Wage Commission called Kolkmeyer’s statement an “amazing” assertion. Lou Jean Fleron noted that the Living Wage Law was approved in 1999 — four years before the state even created Buffalo’s control board.

“This is the law, and I am presuming that the law prevails,” Fleron said. “There is nothing that even remotely suggests the control board is above it.”

Last summer, the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority lifted a wage freeze that had blocked any salary increases for 38 months.

The mayor’s push to increase salaries for seasonal employees marks the second time this week the Brown administration and some control board leaders have been at odds. Monday, the control board voted, 6-3, to approve a contract that raises the salaries of school crossing guards in return for health insurance concessions.

But three panel members, including Kolkmeyer, didn’t think the givebacks went far enough. They raised fears about the precedent the contract would set as the city tries to negotiate agreements with other unions.

Kolkmeyer insisted the city must consider the long-term affordability of escalating health insurance costs and other fringe benefits.

bmeyer@buffnews.com