The Electric Utility

Wage compression can occur when the higher level wages are not increasing as fast as lower level wages. This has occurred in the City’s Electric Utility where linemen will receive at a minimum a 6.5% pay increase and potentially a 9.5% increase pending arbitration. The non-represented supervisors will actually be making less then the foremen in base pay (not including OT). The high demand for lineman has pushed their wages higher in a market where 2.5% increases look pretty good. The problem is that the supervisors need to be paid more then the linemen.

This will create publicity issues that have to be thought about carefully and presented with the most accurate information available. Non-represented employees of the Electric Utility must be dealt with in a fair and equitable fashion. Many cities across the country are facing the same issue for different reasons, most have targeted their non-rep employees because there is no negotiating need to make cuts. This situation is different in that it only affects the top two supervisors and not a large group of non-reps with the potential to unionize.

Budgets may end up looking very funny at the end of this year.