Anchorage Daily News

Contracts

City's raises raise eyebrows

The city administration is trying to get four union contracts through the Assembly before Mayor Mark Begich heads off to become a U.S. senator.

The contracts include generous raises -- perhaps overly generous for a time of recession. And they are long-term contracts, guaranteeing cost-of-living increases for five years out.

Two of four contracts are up for action at tonight's Anchorage Assembly meeting and two more are scheduled to be discussed Dec. 16.

These contracts have undergone little public scrutiny. There has not even been an Assembly work session to explain the terms. The Assembly should postpone action at least until the Dec. 16 meeting to take a closer look.

The contracts would hand out first-year raises of 3 percent across the board to the electrical workers, police, fire and Anchorage Municipal Employees Association unions, while the country limps along in a recession.

In later years, the workers would be guaranteed inflation raises of at least 2.5 percent (2.9 percent minimum for firefighters and police).

That seems overly generous.

City manager Mike Abbott says the first-year raises of 3 percent are based on a five-year average of actual inflation. That was the cap set in an Assembly resolution passed in March 2007 giving the Begich administration direction for its contract negotiations.

In normal times, guaranteeing cost-of-living raises might make sense. But we're in the worst recession the U.S. has experienced for decades.

If the Assembly approves two contracts tonight, to be fair, they'll be pressured to approve the other two as well.

Instead of rushing in, the Assembly should step back, look at the costs of all four at once, and decide whether they add up to a reasonable expenditure of public money.

BOTTOM LINE: Hold off on voting for city labor contracts.

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