Committee member says asking lowest-paid employees to defer COLA is unfair

A committee member said during a meeting that asking the lowest-paid employees to defer a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) while higher-paid staff continue to receive performance-based bonuses and step increases is unfair. "To sit there and ask our lowest paid to defer and then turn around and defer a COLA for... it's not right," the committee member said.

The speaker said they support the proposed piece in principle but argued it does not go far enough to protect lower-paid staff. "I support this piece, but I don't think it's far enough," the committee member said, and urged colleagues to "collaboratively look for the concession where there's 0 movement on the wage scale for anybody" to ease pressure during a tight period.

The committee member also pointed to pay-scale math, saying higher pay grades receiving percentage increases or step movement can outpace what lower-paid employees would regain by deferring a COLA. "Because those percentages at a higher pay scale are more than some of the people that are willing to defer their cola would see in 3 years," the committee member said.

No formal motion or vote is recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The statement frames the equity argument around who bears immediate budget adjustments and calls for consideration of a temporary, across-the-board hold on wage-scale movement as a potential compromise.