Vancouver mayor and council to take 10% salary reduction

Mayor Kennedy Stewart and Vancouver City Council members have unanimously agreed to a salary reduction.

The motion was first introduced by Mayor Stewart, as a sign of solidarity for other city staff who had been either laid off or given a pay cut. During Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors amended the motion so that they would also be included.

The mayor and each city councillor will take a 10% reduction in salary, similar to the compensation impacts that were announced earlier this month.

Nearly two weeks ago, the City of Vancouver announced that management and non-unionized employees would undergo a mandatory furlough, taking one unpaid day off over each 10-day pay period. This is equivalent to a 10% reduction in salary for each staff member.

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The salary reduction for staff, the mayor, and city council members is expected to last until mid-December but will be revisited should the city’s financial situation change. A total of 1,100 city staff were affected by the pay cut.

So far, 1,800 unionized staff members have undergone temporary layoffs. At the start of April, Deputy City Manager Paul Mochrie told Daily Hive that there were 1,500 layoffs. By mid-April, an additional 300 had been made.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, it was also announced that the city would bring an end to free parking and that a formal announcement was expected by next week.