YC council raises city worker pay
A new five-year agreement between Yuba City and the Yuba City Employees Association will give pay raises to bring salaries up to those in other cities.
The City Council approved the agreement 3-0 Tuesday night.
The agreement with 105 city workers doing clerical, maintenance, planning and other tasks calls for substantial increases this year.
Depending on the position - and how far it was behind other cities - wages would go up from 4.2 percent to 7 percent retroactive to June 24, and from zero to 22.5 percent on Dec. 24.
Beyond that, the agreement provides for cost-of-living adjustments in the following years that would range between 3 percent and 6 percent, depending on the state's consumer price index.
To come up with the new pay scales, the city did its first salary survey, said Human Resource Director Steve Johnson. The survey conducted by Cooperative Personnel Services, of Sacramento, compiled salaries in Chico, Lodi, Rocklin, Turlock, West Sacramento, Woodland and Sutter County.
The survey found that Yuba City employees made 8 percent below the other cities on average, said Johnson. Only a few positions would get the 22.5 percent increases.
Johnson said the agreement was good for the city because it spans five years.
The association approved the agreement 33-9 in August after more than three months of negotiations.
“That's a good percentage,” said association President Ken Reische, a lead mechanic in the city's maintenance division.
Reische said 80 percent to 90 percent of the employees were happy with the raise, which was well overdue.
“I think the city is just trying to keep good employees with the salary survey, because they've had a large turnover, and it costs money to hire employees,” said Reische.
Costs of the equity and cost-of-living adjustments would total nearly $520,000 during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, then decline in subsequent years.
Appeal-Democrat reporter John Dickey can be reached at 749-4711. You may e-mail him at jdickey@appeal-democrat.com. \
