An Allegheny County Council bill could raise the pay of hundreds of county employees, eventually increasing the minimum pay for its workers to $20 per hour and lifting compensation for nursing assistants, clerks, child services caseworkers and others. But County Executive Rich Fitzgerald could veto the pay hike due to its cost.
More than a fifth of Allegheny County’s 5,600 full-time employees made less than $20 per hour (or the equivalent $41,600 salary) in 2022, according to county payroll data, which PublicSource reviews and details annually. That group, 1,175 individuals in 2022, includes a higher proportion of women and people of color than the county’s workforce overall. And those workers who earned less than $20 per hour left their jobs at a higher rate than other county workers last year while key agencies struggled to retain and hire staff.
The bill would gradually raise minimum pay, only for county employees, to $20 per hour by 2026. The statewide minimum wage is $7.25. Whether the county threshold will become law is not yet clear. Council could overcome a Fitzgerald veto with a supermajority vote and, barring that, a new executive is coming in January who could champion the measure.
Fitzgerald’s spokesperson declined to comment on the executive’s plans for the legislation last week.
“If [Fitzgerald] wants to go down swinging against county employees, that is a path that he can choose to take,” said the bill’s sponsor, Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, a frequent foil...
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