The Almanac’s Nov. 5 editorial erroneously stated that I voted “to give the city’s non-benefited workers … an additional 2 percent increase in addition to the standard raise recommended by the union.” That’s not right. Only one raise was given, a one-time cost-of-living-increase, negotiated by staff, not me or any other City Council member. It was given only to temporary employees who otherwise had received increases of 0 percent in 2006, 1 percent in 2007, and 2 percent in 2008. The overall cost of the 2 percent raise was less than $25,000.
Hiring temporary workers saves the city money because they receive far less than full-salaried, full-benefited employees. These workers include library and park maintenance staff, leaders of recreation classes, and janitors. They are among our lowest-paid employees and receive no pension or other benefits upon retirement.
The practice of using temporary positions rather than full-benefited positions is not supported by unions, whose objections become pointed when temporary positions persist for years. Worse, temporary worker pay rates have not even kept up with the cost of living in recent years.
I supported increasing the pay of these positions out of a sense of fairness and concern for employee morale. Paying these workers a fair wage is a strong personal value for me, and one of which I’m proud. I’m willing to employ long-term, temporary workers, to save the city money, even when it’s opposed by unions, but I am not willing to exploit the temporary status to pay loyal, long-term workers unfairly low wages.
My decision was not influenced by any campaign contribution I received from the SEIU union, though I acknowledge it might appear that way. Council approved the resolution by a vote of 4-1, including Andy Cohen and others, who did not accept campaign contributions from SEIU. If council members who did and did not accept SEIU contributions supported this action, is it logical to infer that the contribution was relevant to the vote?
The Almanac is correct to scrutinize negotiating positions of council members who receive contributions from unions, but by choosing this case, it distracted attention from the pressing issue of fairness. I feel that long-term, temporary workers, more than any other group of employees deserve a wage adjustment. The Almanac’s attention would be better focused on those who are unwilling to grant this raise continue to underpay these workers.
Kelly Fergusson is a member of the Menlo Park City Council.
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