Charlotte city workers protest in push for higher wages, improved overtime pay
Craig Brown has tried to convince his younger coworkers with Charlotte Water to stay with the city, perhaps now more than ever in his 18 years on the job.
But it’s becoming increasingly difficult.
Brown was one of about 40 city workers and union members who marched down 3rd Street to the Government Center Monday evening in a push for increased wages and overtime pay.
“When city workers are under attack, what do we do?” one protester chanted through a megaphone. “Stand up, fight back!”
The crowd included several city employees who shared similar stories: That recruitment has been deficient because of low pay, and that some workers are forced to leave the city for cheaper living elsewhere.
“Charlotte can only be a beacon ... if you pay your people,” said Brown, who trains younger employees and helps maintain and repair the tens of thousands of valves that regulate the flow of drinking water throughout the city.
The workers are asking for a 10% wage increase and for daily overtime, according to a news release from the Charlotte City Workers Union.
Brown, 60, said he has convinced about a dozen other employees to stay with the city as private utilities have tried to recruit them. But, he warned, these arguments have grown less convincing as housing costs spike and overtime pay doesn’t meet workers’ needs.
“It takes a special breed to be out in all kinds of weather and perform this service,” he said. “If they lose this workforce in the near future, who’s going to do it?”
Union in talks with council members
The Charlotte City Workers Union said wages for 75% of single-income city employees aren’t enough to raise one child in Charlotte. For employees in Solid Waste Service, 97% don’t meet that threshold, the union said, citing a figure from the Economic Policy Institute. The Observer could not immediately confirm the union’s wage calculation.
Union president Dominic Harris said workers’ representatives have talked with Charlotte City Council members Dimple Ajmera and Braxton Winston, and that they have scheduled conversations with two others. He’s hopeful the city will be responsive to their requests.
Daily overtime, one of the union’s requests, would allow workers’ to receive increased pay for every hour they work over their regular schedule per day, as opposed to per week.
Under a weekly or bi-weekly overtime system, workers could work a 12-hour shift but not receive an overtime rate if they take sick day and don’t reach 40 hours for the week.
Harris, 34, said he averages between 52 and 64 hours per week.
He said he knows some city employees who live outside Charlotte, such as in Gastonia and Concord, because they can’t afford to live in the city. While he said City Council members seemed receptive to their plea for increased wages, he added that workers can be hard-pressed to afford basic living expenses under the status quo.
“I don’t know what to think of them when I look at them and they know their workers are suffering,” he said. “I just don’t know what the disconnect is there.”
Sonia Watts, a special transportation services driver for the city, said workers more often than not make too little to pay rent unless they live with a partner, family member or roommate. She also has heard of workers living outside Charlotte. Many other struggle.
After the march from Marshall Park, the workers spoke to City Council members and Mayor Vi Lyles during the council’s business meeting.
One solid waste employee, Rory Pegram, said he has to work a second job at night to get by.
“All y’all up here are living good, and some of y’all are living well,” Pegram said to the City Council and Lyles. “I’m struggling.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 8:26 PM.
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