Union Employees Seek Wage Growth

CAPE MAY – David Tucker, president, Government Workers Union (GWU), addressed Cape May City Council March 6 concerning what he said are excessively low salary ranges for union employees.  
GWU represents the city’s 28 blue-collar workers whose contract for the next three years is still being negotiated. According to Tucker, the big stumbling block is salaries.
Tucker told council members that the salary ranges for blue-collar employees in Cape May “set the low bar” for municipalities in the county.
Using the example of a laborer category, Tucker said that a Cape May worker with 10 years of service reaches a salary peak that is below the starting salaries of neighboring communities.
“The current pay ranges in Cape May provide a salary for a laborer with 10 years of service maxing out at $29,194,” he said. He had data that compared that to a starting salary for the same category of employee in Sea Isle City where the starting salary, he says, is $33,979. Data from Upper Township, Wildwood, Avalon, and Ocean City bolstered his point.
According to Tucker, the county’s namesake resort has always been the lowest paying for blue collar workers. “It is sort of the way it has always been,” he said.
“We are not trying to change this immediately, but we do want some positive wage growth,” he argued. A number of the city’s blue-collar employees sat in the audience.
The point of Tucker’s presentation to the council was to urge the governing body to look at the status of this group of employees and begin a process of growth that would bring salaries over time into line with other municipalities.
For this contract, Tucker said, the union is seeking $19,000 more than the city’s offer spread over three years and 28 employees. “Only $19,000 over three years can make a difference,” he told the council.
“It is a start of some positive growth,” he said after the meeting. This figure of $19,000 is over the amount offered by the city which was not discussed.
According to Tucker, if the union and the city cannot reach an agreement, the next step is state mediation. “It would cost them more than $19,000 to go to mediation,” he said.
For their part, council members listened but made no comment. The negotiations are still ongoing.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.