Jonathan Galgay proposes 2-year wage freeze at St. John's City Hall

A St. John's city councillor has made official his push for a wage freeze on all management, non-union staff and members of council at Monday's regular weekly meeting.

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Coun. Jonathan Galgay motioned for a two-year freeze to come into effect immediately, if council votes in favour.

After the meeting, Galgay said his efforts did not sit well with Mayor Dennis O'Keefe.

"The mayor obviously is not happy with me. He's got his back up, and it doesn't surprise me," Galgay told reporters.

Galgay says fellow councillors Sheilagh O'Leary and Art Puddister have already voiced their support for the freeze, and he thinks it would be wise for other councillors to do the same.

"Management is going to have to tread very carefully in how they approach this, instead of putting their backs up. We all have to make sacrifices," Galgay told CBC News over the weekend.

"The unions are making sacrifices, and therefore management will as well — and face the reality that tough decisions have to be made and that they're not immune to these cuts."

Conflict of interest

The wage freeze was not put to a vote at Monday's meeting, and it's not clear when a decision will be made.

"I suspect further review will take place over the next week or two," said Galgay, adding a third party will be brought in to help with deliberations.

"We'll obviously refer to outside legal (counsel) to review the implications, because our staff who sit around the table and give us advice are clearly in a conflict of interest."

Millions in savings

Specific recommendations will be presented to council in June, but Galgay said he is confident that freezing wages for the next two years could save the city up to $2 million a year.

"I can tell you 100 per cent there's going to be management cuts, and there are going to be other cuts in other departments," he said.

"It's certainly not an easy task to have to undertake, but we're taking this very seriously and we know we can do things more efficiently and more effectively."

Galgay says he looks forward to talking about the proposal with his colleagues over the next few days.

The management cuts would help win back some confidence from those taxpayers who are fed up with months of bad news from city hall, Galgay added.

"The fact of the matter is we have a responsibility to the taxpayers of the city," he said.

"We've learned many lessons over the past number of months and if council is going to vote against this motion they better have some very good explanation to the public."