Water Boss Declines Raise Until Employees Get New Contract

The head of the water department in Albany, NY, says he will not accept a raise next year as an expression of solidarity with workers who have not had their contract renewed.

A nearly 10 percent raise was proposed for Albany Water Department Commissioner Joe Coffey’s position, but he has decided to forgo the salary bump, which would have brought his pay from $99,713 this year to $110,000 in the 2017 budget, according to the Times Union.

He says he will wait on the salary bump until blue-collar workers get a contract because he recognizes the sensitivity of the raise issue, according to the report.

"They work hard, and I will never take for granted the work they do," he said to Albany’s city council members, per the report. "I'm very sensitive to the visibility of the salary increases."

A contract for union workers in Albany expired three years ago. Meanwhile, a budget proposal from Mayor Kathy Sheehan cuts spending by 2 percent but still includes $250,000 in raises for certain officials, the Times Union previously reported.  The water department budget is separate from the city spending plan.

"I think that the timing is wrong," Carolyn McLaughlin, the city council president, said. "You have union contracts that are still in arbitration, and then you have those other employees walking around City Hall who have not seen a raise."

Frank Coons, president of Albany Blue Collar Workers Union Local 1961, has weighed in on the tensions. He said that the city has “stalled negotiations and has argued there isn't money available for raises for union workers. The union represents employees in the water department,” the report said.

"[The money slated for raises and new positions] sends a clear message to the very workers that clear the streets, collect the trash, keep the parks clean and safe and maintain our water system — that they do not matter. This issue affects residents in every single ward and needs to be addressed by stopping the slated raises in question," Coons said, per the report.

Albany water officials face costly infrastructure challenges. Some water pipes are so old they were laid when Rutherford B. Hayes was president.

“If that doesn’t shock our senses, I don’t know what would,” said U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, Democrat from New York, who is calling for greater water infrastructure spending, according to WAMC.

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