Some Wisconsin Counties and Municipalities Approve "Temporary Pay Equity Adjustments"

Some nonunion government workers get pay increases to offset pension contributions. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel,

Excerpt: With new pension contributions in place at 5.8% of pay, a number of municipalities and counties are giving nonunion employees temporary pay increases to cover most or all of the costs through the end of the year.

They say it's to level the playing field for nonunion employees working side-by-side with union workers who for now avoid the new pension payment requirement because they remain under previously adopted contracts.

Dane County, Madison, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Fox Point, Summit and Hartland are among the municipalities that have approved what some refer to as a "temporary pay equity adjustment."

"It is to make things as fair as we can make them for city employees so that those employees that may not be represented by a union are not punished for that fact," La Crosse Mayor Mathias Harter said of the 5% increase that was approved in August and runs through the end of the year, when union contracts expire and represented workers start making the pension payments.