Letter to the Editor

I write this letter regarding comments made by Mayor Don McCormick concerning the ongoing negotiations between the United Steelworkers (Local 1-405) and the City of Kimberley.

The Job Evaluation System, something many collective agreements contain, actually saves the employer money in terms of having to negotiate, bargain or use a third party arbitrator to determine position changes. Is the issue the desire to increase some of the positions, because the city deems it necessary, to increase those rates by as much as 18%? If so, why wasn’t the system used to determine what those rates may be?

Could it be that the city managers unilaterally decided the evaluation system didn’t work for them in 2015 when the laptop and USB storage stick were “lost,” setting the tone for bargaining?

The labour of the city employees has enjoyed an average annual increase of just higher than the annual cost of living (two per cent). The average salary of the unionized membership is $48,000/year. The bargaining committee has repeatedly stated money isn’t an issue in bargaining. Maintaining the benefits already agreed to certainly is.

The CAO and Mayor have already made public comments about the cost of labour at the City of Kimberley. Strangely enough they have not commented about the cost of management at the City of Kimberley. Why is that? The average salary of the 14 managers and supervisors at the City of Kimberley is $96,000/year, not including expenses or benefits. Is that figure viable long-term? Have their benefits been cut?

CAO Salary :2015 – $137,305.40; 2014 – $124,198.49 +10.55%

CFO Salary: 2015 – $113,434,35; 2014 – $107,393.44 +5.63%

Manager Operations Salary 2015 – $108,570.95; 2014 – $101,181.97 +7.30%.

These are only three of the top management salaries that average $96,000 at the City of Kimberley. There are approximately 15 excluded salaries/managers at the city. Source: www.kimberley.civicweb.net – 2014-15 Statement of Financial Information

I don’t begrudge someone being paid a fair wage for their services, but do not call my members’ wages and benefits “no longer financially sustainable” when you have manager’s salaries in a pretty high tax bracket and nary a word is said.

Truth is, the workforce of the City of Kimberley provides value and service to the taxpayers and citizens of the City of Kimberley. Numerous examples of infrastructure replacement costs are better value for the city using staff over outside contractors. For example, 301st Ave recently; the lowest outside contractor bid was approximately $1.2 million. The workforce at the city completed the work for $600,000. Half the cost.

If the city managers have a problem with the Job Evaluation system, they should have said so. If they wanted to give a position an 18% increase because they felt there was value, they needed to justify it through the process named in the collective agreement, rather than just do whatever they please. If you were working beside someone at work and they received an 18% increase and you received one per cent, how would you feel?

On November 5, 2014, some 10 days prior to the election, the mayor met with the City of Kimberley Union Committee along with myself. The candidate made the comment that last round of negotiations (2012) was characterized as “them versus us.” The mayor stated he didn’t like those terms. It was stated that his philosophy is that “people who are happy, do great work; poor morale and unhappy people do poor work.”

The unionized staff at the City of Kimberley are unhappy and morale is low; however, I believe he was wrong. The unionized staff are still doing great work for the City of Kimberley taxpayers and residents. I would suggest you start practicing what you preach. If you want partners in trying to solve the problems that this city is faced with, perhaps you should try treating us as such.

Instead you have managers taking down communication to the membership off of the bulletin boards; installing cameras at the Works Yard for security reasons when the fence is in need of repair (not very secure) and a general management style that relies on intimidation rather than cooperation.

The unionized employees of the City of Kimberley have some great cost-savings ideas for the city. Maybe you should ask them. Most of them have been here for a long time and they plan on staying here. They also deserve better treatment at work. Bargaining a fair collective agreement would be a good start.

Jeff Bromley,

United Steelworkers

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