Striking city street and utility workers are shown in front of shop gate.

Eutaw city workers, all of the street and utility workers, staged a one day work stoppage on Monday, May 14, 2012 to protest inaction by the Mayor and City Council on a raise. The raise had been promised for several months but never officially approved by the City Council.

Later that day the City’s Finance Committee met and recommended to the full Council, a 5% across the board raise for city employees. The Council will vote on this recommendation at their next meeting on May 22. If it is approved by the Council, the increase will be effective in the next payroll period.

Jesse Lawson, a spokesperson for the employees, said on Monday morning in front of the gates to the City maintenance shop on Highway 43, that “We have been promised a raise for months and the Mayor and City Council keep delaying. We are on strike today to let them know they must act on our request for a pay increase.”

Lawson said most of the employees make $8 to $9 an hour with benefits but these wages are not enough to keep up with current living expenses for the employees.

Hattie Edwards, a Councilmember, said she also hoped to get an additional step raise for some of the employees with longer seniority who have been waiting for a raise for a long time, are dependable and flexible in their job tasks.

Ralph Liverman, Chair of the Finance Committee said, “We needed to give the across the board raise now and then do a classification study of the work and pay the workers differential amounts based on skills, versatility and longevity of service.”

Liverman said he had come to the meeting expecting to work on the City’s Personnel Manual but said the meeting was carried away by the events of the day.

Lawson said after the Council work session that he was sure the wage increase was forthcoming and that the work stoppage was necessary to focus attention on the problems of the employees going forward