1. Asheville firefighters work 832 more hours per year than almost all other City of Asheville employees. Do you believe that Asheville firefighters should get paid an hourly living wage? Why or why not?
Absolutely, and that our City firefighters aren’t yet paid a living wage is a shame. As a working class person, I understand the importance of living wages as a more just minimum wage. The living wage calculation as maintained by Just Economics is based on the cost of housing in the Asheville metro region, so even the current $22.10-hour living wage means potentially driving a half hour or more to work in the city limits. Securing a living wage floor for all City staff has many benefits:
- Ensuring the City of Asheville is an employer of choice, able to recruit and retain staff to provide the quality services the public expects and deserves;
- Setting a standard in the region, which not only means improving quality of life for City staff but also raising the bar for all workers in the region;
- Addressing affordability directly, which impacts City staff’s ability to afford housing, food access, childcare, and health and wellness; and
- Making it possible for City staff–including firefighters–to afford to live in the communities they serve.
The narrative that firefighters should be exempt means the City of Asheville is either okay paying our staff below living wages for every hour they’re on the clock or we’re condoning $0-hour for 832 hours a year. Neither position reflects our community’s values. I have also heard a harmful narrative that firefighters should be exempts because they sleep on the clock. Studies show the negative health outcomes from disrupted sleep, which happens when our firefighters are woken up during their 24-hour shifts. Sleep deprivation is a hazard of the job because of the way firefighters are currently scheduled, yet the schedule ensures emergency calls are answered. Whether it’s a traffic incident, structure fire, alarm, or heart attack, of course we need our firefighters to answer the call no matter what time of day an emergency happens, so the City needs to pay equitably for every hour on the clock.
2. What specific items would you advocate for as a Council Member to support Asheville firefighters? Please list up to three items and be as specific as possible.
- Delivering on pay equity and strategizing to achieve living wage compliance for all City employees including firefighters. The City Council set a strategic goal of equitable, affordable housing, but is failing to achieve that for our own employees–it doesn’t have to be that way.
None of the budgets presented to Council in June included a living wage compliance of $22.10-hour based on the cost of housing in our region. With community-led solutions, including a proposal from our IAFF Local 332 firefighters union, I worked with Councilmembers Sheneika Smith and Antanette Mosley to present an alternative budget that would have secured:
- Providing every City staff member a $2,400 raise, minimum salary $41,920 ($20.15-hour)
- AFD minimum salary $53.144 for 2,912 hours ($18.25-hour) as proposed by firefighter union
- APD minimum salary $50,309 for 2,080 hours ($24.19-hour)
- Some compression issues that required 2-year solutions, but prioritizing a balanced budget without a property tax increase.
We requested an agenda item to present our alternative budget through proper procedure, but our invitation to a mature, public conversation was met with chaotic political theater when the agenda item and our proposal were skipped. In the end, we three voted no, and I appreciate the why offered by Councilwoman Smith in the video here.
The wins firefighters did gain were due to public pressure, so thanks is due to our IAFF Local 332 and our community for bringing the heat this budget cycle! The work continues as we are already converting that pressure into proactive planning for pay equity and hopefully we’ll have more than a majority of Council support in the next budget cycle.
- Demanding transparency for shared accountability and shared success. As an advocate for open meetings policy, I am committed to doing the people’s work in public and asking hard questions–having the courage to say “no” and the leadership to say “yes” so we can take better care of our neighbors and our mountain home. One current example is from my role on Council’s Policy, Finance, and Human Resources Committee as we tackle wages and compensation early this fiscal year. Fours areas I’m focused on:
- Following up on staff complaints around systemic pay inequity, demanding that the HR operational assessment be publicly available and leveraged for accountability;
- Questioning the suggestion to move City staff to merit-based pay because this model has proven to allow for implicit and explicit bias and might open the door for retaliation;
- Ensuring wages and compensation are prioritized in this budget cycle before other demands like long-term obligation bonds, creating pressure for fiscal responsibility because our City budget is indeed a reflection of what our organization values; and
- Pursuing new and untapped revenue which includes accountability for our unchecked tourism industry so more of our hotel occupancy taxes can be invested in our infrastructure, diversifying our economy for more living wage jobs, and partnering with the County and other regional partners to reduce duplication of costs while maximize state and federal funding opportunities instead of leaning on property tax increases.
- Listening to the union, including restoration of retirement benefits. Labor unions have always been on the frontlines of advancing workers’ rights, safe working conditions, and pay equity. When unions bargain collectively, our whole community benefits. One of the key advocacy campaigns of the IAFF Local 332 has been restoring retirement benefits, advocacy that has added to my understanding and led to Council taking steps to restore the Medical Expense Retirement Program. Along with supporting certification incentive pay for firefighters and paid family medical leave for all City staff, I am committed to listening to local unions on ways to make Asheville a better place to live, work, and build a career.
In closing, I’m honored to again be endorsed by the WNC Central Labor Council and the NC State AFL-CIO for re-election to Asheville City Council, and appreciate consideration for endorsement by our IAFF Local 332. Just as I advocated for living wages beside our firefighters before I was on Council, you can count on me to continue to organize in solidarity for firefighters and your families beyond elections.