PLATTSBURGH — Councilors are coming under fire for a trial balloon to review the longevity pay system for city managers to see if savings can be found.
Councilor Mike Kelly (Ward 2) proposed a resolution on June 15 that would encourage a moratorium on longevity payments before the next one is due in December.
The latest payment was made on June 15.
Those choosing to make the switch would be guaranteed longevity pay as part of the contract.
“Would I have accepted if someone said I wouldn’t have (longevity pay)?
It’s hard to say,” McMahon said.
“I gave up my union protection because I care about the plant, and I care about public health,” Gushlaw told the council.
“To get the city out of this deficit, we need to get back to what this country was founded on: to be one, and work together.” He called on the council to reconsider the proposed resolution, and asked that they sit down with the city’s managers to negotiate.
City Engineer Kevin Farrington said that the discussion on longevity pay signaled a larger problem: “There has to be a shift in thinking about this budget problem,” he said.
“If the elected officials think that extracting a pound of flesh from management will somehow solve the problem, they’re sorely mistaken.” Farrington said that a wage and compensation study had been done in the City of Plattsburgh 10 years ago, and had found that managers were not being compensated equitably when compared to similar cities.