That came following a question by resident Terry Sawka related to the 7.1% of the Budget that has been allocated towards labour themes.
The City's CFO Corinne Bomben confirmed that the deal was for a duration of four years, the City Manager Rob Buchan providing for a few additional details towards the update on the recently ratified labour pact.
"The union contract that was recently concluded with CUPE was four years at four percent, four percent, four percent, two percent and that we can tell you, that's been ratified"
Dr. Buchan further explained the 7.1% allocation of the Budget document.
"The 7.1% is related to the proportion of the Budget increase and that includes not just the CUPE contract, but other contracts that have been settled as well. So 7.1% is not an increase to the wages, its a percentage of the budget"
Mayor Herb Pond also added some perspective to the spending elements of the budget as part of the discussion, observing to the limitations that the City has in revenue streams.
"I think it's worth noting, you know without sort of calling out, without pointing fingers at anybody, one of the challenges that you see is that there is an amplification of the costs because we can't share the costs across all taxpayers.
We are prohibited from increasing taxes on those capped properties, DP World, Prince Rupert Grain, Ridley Terminals.
So that means if we have a four percent increase in costs somewhere, that could have been a four percent cost across the board. It has to be a much larger cost when concentrated into a fewer right, so there's a multiplier effect that happens with each and everyone of these things.
If our insurance costs are up two percent this year, it means that we have to raise four percent more off the remaining taxpayers that we're able to tax"
On that theme of multipliers, as for the contract settlement that was confirmed on Tuesday, of note towards the impact today compared to years past, the amount of salaries and benefits being paid out has increased over the last decade, that as the city's workforce continues to expand.
In 2015 the City of Prince Rupert annual report noted of a civic work force that totalled 208.
Seven years later, the 2022 Annual Report observes of a workforce number around 250.
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| City of Prince Rupert Annual Report for 2021 |
As Doctor Buchan noted in his commentary, the confirmation of Tuesday was about all that would be shared on the nature of the contract negotiations, so it's unknown what other elements of the negotiations have been implemented as part of the settlement.
A regional comparison can be found in Terrace, which has a longer term, but less to award to workers each year of the deal.
Last year Terrace issued a formal press release (something the City of Prince Rupert rarely does on labour themes) that noted of a new agreement through to 2026.
The labour negotiations in our region, appear to be similar to those found from some other communities in the province, CUPE has a list of a some of the recent municipal settlements in BC, with contracts of 3-4 % per years, for terms between 2-4 years.
The discussion on the contract and other elements towards the budget can be reviewed from the Citys' Video archive starting at the 23 minute mark.
More notes on Tuesday's Budget conversation and other themes of the Monday Council Session can be reviewed here.
A wider overview of Civic Labour themes can be explored here.
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