Worcester Employee Payroll Stacked with $70K-plus Salaries

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

In 10 major city departments, 789 full-time employees are taking home at least $70,000 or more a year in salary. Almost 50 percent of the full-timers in those departments draw an annual paycheck at or above that rate. Those earnings far surpass the average median income in Worcester of $30,251.

The most $70,000-plus earners come from two departments: police and fire. In the police department, 59 percent, 272, of 459 full-time officers earn at least that much. In the fire department, 80 percent, 326, of 407 full-time firefighters earn $70,000 or more a year. After that, public works employees are next in line – 41 of the department’s 97 full-timers earn at least $70,000.

Councilors React

“I’m not surprised,” District 1 City Councilor Tony Economou said of the number of high-earners on the city payroll.

Neither was At-Large Councilor and former Mayor Konstantina Lukes, who didn’t want to comment at length, but said: “I think what you see is that we have generous wages with generous benefits. How long we can continue to provide those wages and benefits … we see that shrinking incrementally.”

Some councilors want more transparency when it comes to who’s being paid what.

“It would be interesting to see if we are comparable to other cities,” District 4 City Councilor Sarai Rivera said. “Are we looking at people with experience in their field? I don’t think there’s anybody that, on some level, doesn’t question some of the salaries. I do look at salaries. I can’t say I don’t.”

Police, Fire Earn Most

What Rivera – and all other councilors who spoke to GoLocalWorcester – agreed on was the salaries for police and firefighters were well-earned.

“The fire department and the things they do, you can’t pay me enough to run into a burning building,” Rivera said. “I think fire and police are a little different. If you look at some of the things police have to do, like the gang unit, other people aren’t doing that.”

In all, police and fire account for 598 of the full-timers earning at least $70,000 a year. That leaves 191 other full-time city employees in eight departments earning that much or more. Combined, there are 1,595 full-time employees in the 10 departments GoLocalWorcester found.

“Personally,” At-Large Councilor Michael Germain said, “I think the salaries are very much in line with what they should be. They’re negotiated every time a contract comes up. The employees show their worth. I think the process works well.”

Germain said overtime and detail work accounts for many of the high salaries in the police and fire departments.

“If you look at the sacrifices they make,” said Germain, “they are away from their families and they’re giving up their weekends in many cases.”

Other factors, according to Germain are the number of new construction projects currently underway in Worcester. He sees that as a good sign.

“A lot of people are out working,” said Germain.

Good Salary

Economou acknowledged that employees earning at least $70,000 are bringing home a decent paycheck, saying: “I think it’s good pay, 70 grand. It’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.”

Like his colleagues, Economou agreed that the salaries for emergency and rescue personnel are well deserved.

“The guys on the front lines, police and fire, we need good people in those positions,” Economou said. “In these departments, and in times where unemployment is an issue, it is certainly prudent if we can negotiate better salaries.”

Rivera wouldn’t go so far as to say every city employee earns his or her keep, saying, “I would need to see what they’re doing for work. I mean, the (Department of Public Works), for example, they respond relatively quickly at all hours. I guess I’d have to see specifically some of the work being done.”

Removing police and fire from the equation, Germain said he thinks municipal employees, especially those in city hall, more than earn their salaries.

“I’m down at city hall regularly,” Germain said. “They earn every penny they make. Everybody works really hard. There’s that old saying, ‘Doing a lot more with less.’ We have people taking on more job duties because of fewer employees. They’re doing a lot of work.”