Nutter to city workers: No raises

Citing Philadelphia's precarious financial position, Mayor Nutter placed an indefinite freeze on city employee salary increases yesterday, a move that administration officials said would save up to $8 million this year and $20.3 million for each additional year the freeze remains in place.

The unprecedented step was immediately denounced by leaders of the city's four municipal unions, who said they would challenge the decision in grievances and contract arbitration hearings. They also vowed to recover any money their workers lose.

"We will take every action to get this money restored to our members," said Cathy Scott, president of District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which represents about 3,400 white-collar city workers. "The mayor is reneging on the contract he signed not even one year ago."

That contract expired June 30, along with the city's other union pacts. Thus, the Nutter administration contends, it can unilaterally freeze the raises - known as step increases and longevity payments - that were virtually automatic under the expired contracts.

In an e-mail notifying city workers of the change, Managing Director Camille Barnett wrote that the city "is facing a serious financial crisis" and that it was necessary for "city employees to share in the sacrifices that so many Philadelphians are making."

Because the biggest raises max out after five years, long-serving employees will be hit least hard by the freeze.

New and future city workers, on the other hand, will earn far less than workers who held the same jobs in previous years, providing the freeze remains in place.

Under the new guidelines, for instance, a police officer hired today would earn $42,813 in base annual salary after five years on the job. Under the old contract, that same police officer would have earned $57,715 with five years of experience, not counting overtime pay.

That amounts to a 26 percent smaller paycheck.

"I don't think this is going to stand. If it does, we'll have to make sure our members are made whole once we have a new contract," said John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 5.

Indeed, for union members, this may all turn out to be only a short-term worry.

Whatever contracts emerge this year between the city and its four labor unions will eventually trump Nutter's salary freeze. The mayor is seeking an end to these automatic raises in the next round of contracts, but there is no guarantee he will get them.

"We expected him to do this. This is a freeze. Once we have our contract, the raises will be back, and they'll be retroactive," said Herman "Pete" Matthews, president of AFSCME District Council 33, which represents about 9,500 blue-collar city workers.

One class of city employee stands to be hurt by the freeze regardless of future union contracts: the 866 civil-service employees who are not represented by a union.

Typically upper-level managers scattered throughout city government, these workers will receive no raises until Nutter determines that the city can afford to reinstate the routine salary increases.

Exempt employees, including elected officials and political appointees such as deputy mayors and Nutter's press office staff, do not receive length-of-service raises and will not be affected by the new freeze.

At a news briefing yesterday, senior Nutter administration officials - seemingly sensitive to any perception that they may not be sacrificing along with rank-and-file workers - repeatedly mentioned pay cuts and furlough days that Nutter had already imposed on exempt employees.