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Columbia’s city manager says a comprehensive city employee pay study will be presented to the city council in the next few months. City manager De’Carlon Seewood tells reporters that the study will compare Columbia to similar markets.
“Our goal is to bring our salary ranges up to actually a percent that’s above the market. Because our goal is we want our employees to feel valued. We want them to feel as if they are important, because they are important,” Mr. Seewood says.
He describes the city’s 1,500 city employees are the city’s most valuable resource. The city council approved Mr. Seewood’s recommendation for a seven percent pay raise for city employees in 2022, three percent in May and another four percent in September.
Meantime, members of Laborers’ Local 955 recently protested outside Columbia city hall, during Seewood’s state of the city address. Union members say Columbia has a staffing crisis that’s getting worse and they’re critical of the city’s most recent wage proposal. As for Mr. Seewood, he tells reporters that his plan is to increase city wages above Columbia’s similar markets.
“I can’t really comment on the negotiation that’s going on. Our city ordinance prohibits that. However, we are negotiating and we are negotiating in good faith. Like I said, our plan is to raise our salaries to a place where they’re above the market,” Seewood says.
Mr. Seewood says the city is focused on compensation and benefits for all city employees. Laborers’ union spokesman Andrew Hutchinson tells 939 the Eagle that the city paid $3.8 million in the last three fiscal years for outside maintenance work on fleet vehicles. He also says they’ve spent $2-million in the last three fiscal years to temporary labor contractors.
