VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach City Council members held the first of two budget hearings on Wednesday night. Ahead of the meeting, members of the Virginia Beach City Workers Union rallied for better pay.
After 18 years with the city of Virginia Beach’s human resources department, Tyra Jackson said her paycheck doesn’t reflect the time she’s dedicated to the city.
"I have three daughters, and my husband,” Jackson said. “I am working around the clock. I can barely pay childcare.”
She’s just one of many in the Virginia Beach City Workers Union calling for city council members to give local government employees a raise.
“I am nowhere near the pay scale that I should be at 32 years,” said Terry Green, another member of the union.
They're asking at a strategic time. City council members are currently working on next year’s budget.
In a proposed plan, Virginia Beach’s City manager Patrick Duhaney told council members there would be more than $30 million set aside to address workforce needs.
Recently, city leaders had an outside company study their workforce compensations and received recommendations on how to maintain employees.
Now, union members like Jackson and Green are demanding a step-by-step pay plan that recognizes years of service.
“I have been held back for a long time, and a lot of other people have been held back for a long time,” Green said.
The city’s spokeswoman said Virginia Beach has an open range pay system, with a minimum and maximum pay. She said an employee’s salary can be anywhere in that range.
The union also wants to see the minimum wage for a city employee go up to $15 dollars an hour; and they want to see reclassifications of all pay grades that are more than 5% below market average.
“Nobody is going to work for $11 no more,” Green said.
13News Now asked the city spokeswoman how many vacancies Virginia Beach is dealing with right now. She said there are approximately 850 job openings.
City leaders are holding a second budget hearing on April 26.