S.F. Nonprofit Employees Press City to Boost Raises

Nonprofit employees in San Francisco, whose pay has barely budged in recent years as rent and other living costs in the region have skyrocketed, are pressing municipal officials to boost their appropriation for salaries at largely city-funded health and social-service organizations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mayor Ed Lee included a 1.5-percent raise for nonprofit workers in this year’s budget. Charity leaders and the politically powerful Service Employees International Union are lobbying for a 2.25-percent increase to match that earmarked for most city staffers.

While inflation has averaged 2.4 percent a year for the past decade, pay for the city’s nonprofit workers has risen by less than 1 percent a year, said Richard Heasley, executive director at Conard House, which serves people with chronic mental-health problems. Unlike commercial city contractors, charities do not have funding increases tied to the Consumer Price Index built into their deals.

A hearing on the raise boost is scheduled for July 29. Critics of the proposal say they support higher wages for nonprofit employees but that amending the budget after it was approved by the city Board of Supervisors sets a bad precedent.