FAIRBURY - After determining that they pay power line workers much less than other cities in Nebraska do, the City of Fairbury will be increasing wages for this critical service, a move that will also raise wages for other city employees.


Fairbury has been losing out on line workers for years, the city council determined, because wages for these essential workers are much higher elsewhere in Nebraska - which means line workers often get "poached" by other places.


Working with a memo from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Fairbury voted to increase wages for people in this position by 17 percent.

This petition from the city's Personnel Committee did not come without some discussion by the rest of the Fairbury city council, because along with that 17 percent increase for line workers comes a 10 percent increase for all other city employees.


Ultimately, Mayor Kelly Davis concluded Fairbury is not interested in losing a full department within the city, and such wage increases were essential to keep these essential employees locally available. The Council voted to approve the motion with seven "yes" votes and one "no."

In a statement shared exclusively with NCN, city council member Brian Schmidt, the chair of the Personnel Committee, says the city has struggled for years to retain and recruit new help, often never even receiving applications for open linemen positions.

Schmidt says this move will cost Fairbury an addition 186 thousand dollars annually, but that the city is in good financial shape to absorb this expense since it is spread across multiple departments. His full official statement on this matter is below.

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For the past several years the city has been having trouble retaining, and recruiting new help.  Mostly in our electric line department.  We have been advertising for 1st class linemen for years and rarely do we even get an application.  These linemen are highly skilled and in high demand across the state, and across the country.  So the market has been changing rapidly.   
 
Also, for the past several years city staff has received very conservative wage increases.  These conservative increases were good for our budget, but left us out of touch with other nearby employers.  We found ourselves behind significantly with wages and benefits.  Basically, while we were taking baby steps the world passed us by.  
 
The increases passed by council two weeks ago are significant.  They represent a $186,000 increase annually.  Yes, this is a big increase.  The good news, Fairbury is financially very stable right now.  Our budget can easily absorb this expense when the increase is spread out across every department in the city. 
 
I feel this wage adjustment will only have positive affects on our city.  Recruiting new talent, and retaining experienced personnel is at the top of the list. 
 
These comments are my own and do not represent those of any other council person.
- Brian Schmidt, Fairbury City Council Ward 2