Report says municipalities pay rates for employees ahead of province

The Prince George Citizen:Sept 15, 2014:
VICTORIA - The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says a report commissioned by the British Columbia government takes aim at unlimited and unregulated wage policies within municipal governments and the heavy burdens they place on taxpayers. The Ernst and Young report compiled as part of the province's core review program concludes salaries for municipal employees increased by 38 per cent from 2001 to 2012 while government and public-sector salaries rose between 19 per cent and 24 per cent during the same period. The report, obtained by the taxpayers' federation, concludes taxpayers who shoulder such increases could get some relief if municipalities held the line on salary hikes to its unionized and management employees. "Compared to the provincial level of government, local government compensation is not co-ordinated (or regulated); there are no limits other than what local governments determine the sector can bear and there are less transparency requirements," said the report, called BC Public Sector Compensation Review. "This has resulted in a lack of alignment in compensation between levels and also across the sector." Taxpayers' federation spokesman Jordan Bateman said the provincial government has been holding its public-sector workers to tight wage settlements, noting it is currently engaged in difficult negotiations with striking teachers, while municipalities are under no restrictions. "The B.C. government has done the best job of any provincial government across the country at managing their labour costs in the last five or six years. Municipalities did not follow suit," Bateman said. He said the report finds Vancouver pays the highest salaries to strategic leadership managers of any government or Crown corporation in B.C., even higher than the University of B.C. and BC Hydro. The report concludes municipalities are overpaying the provincial government for technical expertise, Bateman said, adding it also says municipalities have a higher percentage of employees making $75,000 a year or more than in the provincial government.The report recommends a more co-ordinated approach across all governments when it comes to salary structures.(more)   
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BC Public Sector Compensation Review