Some Allegheny County employees can expect to see their incomes raised in the coming years after council passed a bill Tuesday night establishing new minimum wage thresholds.
The bill, extending to all salaried and non-salaried county employees, cleared council by a 10-4 threshold, with Republican member Sam DeMarco and three Democrats voting against. If it survives a possible veto challenge from County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, hourly workers will be earning a minimum of $18 per hour by January 2024, with incremental raises taking effect over the next two years until reaching a $20 hourly minimum in January 2026. Over the same period, salaried workers will see their minimum incomes raised to $37,440, $39,520, and $41,600 respectively.
Supporters of the bill emphasized the county’s responsibility to its workers amid the growing strains of inflation.
“If we’re really gonna be what we say we’re gonna be, and we want people to have a fair shot at being able to live in this county, and not put that burden and continue putting that burden on the backs of Black women, then we should be voting in favor of this,” said Liv Bennett (D-North Side) who referenced a devastating 2019 study showing that Black women in Pittsburgh disproportionately suffer from income inequality and other forms of discrimination.
DeMarco said his opposition to the bill was guided by concerns with how the county would fund the raises without raising taxes.
“Speaking to the taxpayers of Allegheny County, the people who we bill … to run our government, this bill, as we’ve been told by the county executive’s office, would require a tax increase in the amount of 30 million plus dollars,” DeMarco (R-at-large) said. “We are in a precarious financial situation.”
Others raised concerns about the legality of the measure and whether it could interfere with collective bargaining agreements.
Union leaders, including Allegheny County Prison Employees Independent Union President Brian Englert, nevertheless spoke in support of the measure.
“As the president of a union, I disagree that this will impact collective bargaining,” Englert said.
“I sit in a jail that struggles every day to have medical assistants to clear people at the door to be brought into the jail that make 17 dollars and one cent an hour, and we can’t get anybody at that rate because we’re not paying what the hospitals pay."
Members of the public, including Erica Brusselars, the Democratic nominee for county treasurer, also weighed in favorably with the wage lift.
“Our workers deserve our respect and they deserve a fair wage,”
During a public hearing last month, Fitzgerald, the county’s outgoing executive, spoke out against the bill, echoing DeMarco’s fiscal concerns. His spokesperson declined to comment when reached after Tuesday’s vote.
The executive can veto any legislation, which can in turn be overridden with another vote from two-thirds of council, meaning Fitzgerald would have to persuade at least one member to change their vote to enact a successful veto.
