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Tuesday night the Anchorage Assembly will vote on a contract for the 120 union workers at the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility (AWWU).
An independent arbitrator rejected the city’s offer, and it’s his contract the Assembly will either accept or reject.
Eight votes are needed for it to pass.
The contract based on the arbitrator’s decision will result in an increase of 13.6%-15.15% over the life of the contract. The range is dependent upon the five year CPI average for the last year of the contract. Assuming a mid-point of 14.37%, the average cost per year of the contract is 4.79%.
The contract based on the Municipality’s last offer is an increase of 5.06% over the life of the contract, or an average of 1.68% per year.
The attorney representing the union, Chuck Dunnagan, told Channel 2 the union hasn’t had a pay increase in about two years.
“They also feel very strongly they’re underpaid,” Dunnagan said, “really the arbitrator’s award confirms that. These guys are seriously underpaid.”
Mayor Dan Sullivan said previous contract negotiations were too lucrative and his latest offer is fair.
“We value our work force, but in these economic times we’re in, we felt we made a fair offer,” Sullivan said.
The Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday night.