Usually, Cincinnati’s city administration, led by its city manager, negotiates wages with city employees. But a proposal by Mayor John Cranley could change that, giving employees represented by five major unions pay raises larger than those agreed upon earlier by the city.
That’s caused concerns from Cincinnati City Council, which must give the final go-ahead on the proposal. It’s also put many Democrat councilmembers — usually big allies of organized labor — in a tough spot.
Cranley proposed a five percent raise beginning in December for some 6,000 employees last week, including police and fire fighters, followed by another five percent raise in 2018 and a four percent raise in 2019. That suggestion came even though the city has already bargained with the unions earlier this year, and in some cases will pay more under Cranley’s plan.
That has some on Council concerned that the proposal circumvents the city’s collective bargaining negotiation procedures. City Manager Harry Black, who is currently negotiating with the Fraternal Order of Police regarding wages, also pushed back against the idea. Black said such a move could erode the power city administration has in entering into collective bargaining agreements.
City Councilman Wendell Young called the plan a political ploy by Cranley to win support from unions as he looks ahead to his 2017 reelection bid. Young said the move displayed Cranley’s “willingness to pander” in order to gain political support and votes.
“It is not fair to taxpayers, to us or to union members we worked so hard to protect,” Young said at an Aug. 1 Council committee meeting. “This is another time John Cranley has pulled a stunt that benefits nobody but himself.”
There were also revelations that, des-pite claims to the contrary by Cranley, the raises could make the city’s budget structurally unbalanced.
This year’s raises could come from a budget surplus, but the additional pay bumps over the next two years in the proposal would send the city into $5.5 million and $7 million deficits respectively, City Budget Director Chris Bigham told Council.
The fight looks to drag out longer, with Council postponing a vote on Cranley’s proposal until next month.
This article appears in Aug 3-10, 2016.