Salary review at city kept secret
Document expected to set stage for union negotiations
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A consulting firm has completed a comprehensive review of the salaries the City of Yellowknife pays its employees, a document previously designed to set the stage for collective bargaining negotiations. However, the city is not releasing the report at this point.
In March, the city issued a request for proposals to carry out a salary review for the municipality's unionized staff and managers.
According to the terms of reference, the review compared city employees' salaries to similar positions in southern Canadian cities as well as other Northern employers.
Salaries and benefits for 214.58 full-time equivalent staff members are expected to account for $24.7 million of the city's $68.6 million in spending next year.
The review was to compare the bottom and top of the salary scales in the groups to determine the competitiveness of city salaries.
Calgary-based accountant firm MNP LLP was the lowest bidder for the request for proposals - carrying out the review for the city at a cost of $38,535.
When Yellowknifer sought a copy of the MNP report, city spokesperson Nalini Naidoo stated in an e-mail the review "is not a public document at this time."
The company was also expected to analyze whether salaries offered attract people here given the high cost of living and how benefits provided on top of salaries compare to other Northern organizations.
The budget projects staffing numbers to remain steady over the next two years while the cost of salaries and benefits is projected to grow to $25.4 million by 2017.
It is not clear if the report will be released in any form.
Senior city staff whose salaries were to be reviewed include: the senior administrative officer, fire chief, deputy fire chiefs and directors of city departments.
Reviews conducted in previous years have compared the salaries earned by city employees to what similar positions pay in the southern communities of Lethbridge, Atla.; Red Deer, Alta.; Thompson, Man.; Yorkton, Sask.; and Fort St. John, B.C.
Northern salary comparisons were made with the GNWT, City of Iqaluit, Town of Hay River, Northern mines and the federal government.
According to the terms of reference, the city carries out such reviews each year its collective agreement with unionized workers is set to expire. The last one was done in 2007.
"This was used to set a baseline for future bargaining mandates," the document states.
It also said the company should provide recommendations to the city on the issue.
The collective agreement for Local 345 expires at the end of the year.
"We're going to request a copy of the report," said Union of Northern Workers spokesperson Craig Yeo when asked about the document. "Bargaining has yet to begin."
Over the summer the city also carried out a "governance" review intended to examine how council operates, arrives at decisions and the city's governance structure but that report also hasn't been released.
