COLUMBIA — More than 1,600 city of Columbia employees will see a 3.5% total wage increase following months of negotiation sessions between union workers and city management.
The 3.5% increase is made up of two separate increases: Employees saw a 2% raise at the start of the current fiscal year on Oct. 1, and in January, employees are expected to see another 1.5% increase on January 18, 2026.
According to the city's September economic report, the city had an inflation rate of 3%. To break even, the city adjusted wage increases by half a percentage point above the inflation rate.
MaCauley Stubbs, an assistant forester with the city of Columbia, said the gap between public sector wages and cost of living has made it hard for many of his co-workers to buy homes in the same community they serve.
"I know several co-workers that when they wanted to move to the next life stage as they get older — that includes buying a house, getting married — they've forgone buying a home in the city they work for," Stubbs said.
He said the struggles aren't just affecting life stages but the ability to afford basic necessities.
"What we are messing with is people's livelihood, the ability to pay for groceries, the ability to pay for their kids to go to school, the ability to keep the heat on in their house," Stubbs said. "If we don't get these wages, people suffer."
Stubbs also serves as a steward for LiUNA Local 955, a union that represents workers in mid-Missouri. He has worked alongside LiUNA Local 955 leader Andrew Hutchinson to negotiate wage increases for union and even non-union workers.
After multiple group negotiation sessions, the city and laborer's union finally achieved a wage increase above the inflation rate in September.
"We're happy with where we landed, it's clearly better than zero percent, but we wish the city would have had the conversation quicker," Hutchinson said.
Deputy City Manager Matt Unrein said the reason it has taken some time to agree to these negotiations is because of financial uncertainty when the negotiation sessions first took place over the summer.
"What we saw happening is in the past fiscal year we were flat," Unrein said. "In fact, we've had a couple of months that were well under what we received the previous year, and it really spooked us."
However, after reviewing further financial circumstances and looking ahead to the future, the city was able to integrate these increases without exacerbating financial uncertainty.
The city and labor union are working together for further negotiations to take effect at the start of the next fiscal year.
