Missouri needs a better plan to help state employees get pay raises, lawmakers and labor officials said Thursday.
Without offering specifics of how to achieve it, Jeff Mazur said the state needs to plan on raising state employees' pay "over five years" to a level that "matches Missouri's rank in cost-of-living among every other state." That rank is 34th, he added.
"If, over five years, we can solve that issue we will do a substantial amount of good for the people who do this work, and for the economy of this state," said Mazur, director of the Jefferson City-based AFSCME Council 72 (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees).
He noted it's already "well-known at this point that Missouri is 50th out of 50 states in terms of state employee pay. It's become a real problem not just for state workers, but for the economies of the places in which they live.
"And for managing state government, as we've seen with a record amount of employee turnover last year."
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using all state employees to calculate the number, shows the average annual salary of Missouri government employees is $39,993.
Mazur said that is about $1,000 a year, on average, lower than Maine, the next lowest state at $40,949. "It's more than $2,300 a year lower than any state that borders Missouri," he said
The BLS calculated Arkansas has the lowest average wages of Missouri's eight neighboring states at $42,346 a year. Illinois is the highest at $64,861, and Iowa is next-to-highest at $62,119.
Wendy Battaglia, a certified nurse assistant at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cameron, told reporters she's worked at the home for seven years and has gotten one raise in that time.
"My salary last year was a little over $24,000 - that's just a little over the poverty level," Battaglia said. "I started in 2007 making $10.75 an hour. In 2015, I'm making $11.85 an hour.
"That is ridiculous."
Battaglia said good employees are leaving state government jobs, often for better-paying positions in the private sector.
"Every time there is a turnover, that agency has to advertise for and go out and hire somebody new," state Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, said. "That might not seem like much cost but, on top of hiring somebody new, they have to go out and train them.
"And some of these jobs take a long time to get used to what they're doing."
In many cases, Barnes said, out-sourcing jobs has led to contractors hiring away the state's skilled workers, offering them more pay.
Like Barnes, Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, serves on the Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages.
He wasn't at the news conference, but said later: "The concept is good. But, I think, before that conversation is going to move anywhere in this building, we need to understand what total compensation is."
The House-passed budget included $300,000 to pay for a study of Missouri state workers' salary and benefits, to see how the total package ranks among other states' employees and in the private sector.
Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed that line-item last year.
Kehoe said the study will provide data to be shared with all lawmakers, "to help them understand what the actual facts are and what the targets should be."
Barnes said some lawmakers already are becoming more dissatisfied with the current state of state employees' pay.
Freshman Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, told reporters after the news conference: "It's an education piece, being able to explain to representatives who may not make it a priority, that it's an important piece to what we're trying to do here."
State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, said: "State workers are the backbone of our community. They are on the front line, each and every day, working to better our state.
"State workers care for the sick, make our roads safe and educate our children. They deserve the very best that we have to offer."