The Unalaska City Council voted on March 12 to allow the city to make updates so they can pay competitive wages to certain employees.
It was a surprise outcome near the end of the meeting when Councilmember Darin Nicholson moved to reconsider a pair of “nay” votes from earlier in the night.
“When I made my votes, I was under the impression that we didn't have all the information from the people that did the study, and, hearing from the assistant city manager — we do have all the information and there is nothing else out there to be presented by them,” Nicholson said.
The council’s votes on the two city ordinances will spur title changes and salary increases for city employees not represented by a labor union, which includes all department directors. While it will affect all of the city’s departments, the updates will only change wages for about 25% of the city’s workforce.
Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. served as a tiebreaker in favor of an initial ordinance that adopts a new pay range matrix. The council then voted unanimously in favor of a second ordinance funding related pay increases for the employees in those positions for the remainder of this current fiscal year.
The City of Unalaska recently commissioned a classification and compensation study for unrepresented employees from an outside human resources group. That study was the first of its kind in more than a decade. Findings were presented to the council on Feb. 6.
One member of the public, Ruth Marquez, has been an employee of the City of Unalaska for over two decades.
“We Title III employees have been patient for this study and the results of the study to materialize,” Marquez said. “I believe that through the years we have proven our worth and also our loyalty to the City of Unalaska.”
Adoption of the new pay range matrix goes into effect April 1 and will impact unrepresented, Title III employees across every city department.
Assistant City Manager Marjie Veeder said city administration is committed to providing employees with competitive wages.
“We're so pleased to be able to provide this new compensation package for our unrepresented employees,” she said.
