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Allegheny County Council considering raising minimum wage

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — There are a lot of questions coming out of Thursday’s discussion at Allegheny County Council.

“How many employees are we talking about for this situation? We don’t know,” said DeWitt Walton, councilperson for Allegheny County District 10.

Walton told Channel 11 he has concerns when it comes to a new bill introduced by Bethany Hallam. She submitted paperwork in June requesting a change to pay all hourly county employees, including seasonal workers, at a minimum of $20 an hour.

But Hallam’s notes were missing key elements, like the number of employees, how much it will cost, and the impact to union employees and their contracts.

“Should we pay concessioners who man concession tents $20 an hour? I think we have to look at it in the grand scheme and calculate the total cost,” Walton said.

He’s not opposed to raising wages but believes the impact is far greater than you may think when you factor in all the jobs. He said you have to account for fringe benefit costs and adding more to pensions.

So the discussion is on hold as the council waits for those fiscal numbers from Hallam.

“I don’t want to hamper the ability of the county to negotiate and for union leaders to be able to have a competitive wage and a positive environment in which they do their job as well,” Walton said.

Channel 11 did reach out to Hallam for comment about the bill but have not heard back.

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