To the Editor,
Re: Council votes for 24-per cent raise, Sept. 22.
Let me ask how, with so many people not having seen a raise in years, extreme child poverty and 15-per cent unemployment, can council justify a 24-per cent wage increase over a three-year period?
To my knowledge, even unions have not come close to or asked for such an increase and when ‘median’ was proposed for city workers, it was dismissed by council out of hand.
Even a cost of living increase is more than most workers, let alone those on income assistance, will see.
Often heard is the rationale that council needs to raise its salaries to attract qualified individuals. Remember, this is a part-time, not a full-time position.
At current salaries of $26,414, councillors make more than 44 per cent of the working population’s yearly income. If one adds the $10,000-$11,000 some councillors receive for sitting on theboard of the regional district, the percentage rises to 59 per cent.
I have to ask; with a part-time salary already more than what half of Nanaimo workers make yearly, does that mean that they are not qualified individuals?
With this and other city councils constantly striving to reach the median, the median will forever increase.
Council should go back to cost of living increases.
Gordon W. Fuller
Nanaimo
