Albany Mayor Sheehan Thanks Albany City Workers With A Raise

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan is running for reelection next year, and before the votes are tallied, she wants to give city employees some money in their pockets that may make them choose her again.

Get our free mobile app

Nobody said that politics had anything to do with the huge announcement that Mayor Sheehan made this morning, but it is sure to score some points with city employees who will be seeing a significant pay raise.

According to Times Union, Mayor Sheehan stood in front of a sign that read “Thank you, Albany’s heroes!” and made a big announcement.  She is using some of the $80 million that the city received from the federal government for COVID-19 assistance, to give raises to city employees that she says really deserve it.

Unionized employees will receive $2 an hour Premium Pay stipend for serving the city selflessly when they were needed during the pandemic.  The $2 an hour will go toward every hour that the employee worked between March 17, 2020 and March 17, 2021.  That could mean a lot of dollars in their pockets.

Non-unionized employees will not be left out.  Mayor Sheehan said, “Our non-union employees, many of them worked remotely, but that work was no less essential to the running of our city and moving our city forward. So that is why today I’m announcing a 3% across-the-board wage increase for all of our non-union employees, retroactive to January 1, 2021.”

Elected officials will not be left out because they are included in the group of non-union employees who are eligible for the pay increase.

Kudos to Mayor Sheehan for looking out for city employees who worked diligently throughout the pandemic.  A nice pay raise may encourage some city employees to show up to the polls and reelect Kathy Sheehan, who knows!