AFSCME Workers Press Council on Pay Scale Penalty as Committee Advances $1.8M in Contracts

Louisville's Labor and Economic Development Committee heard emotional testimony from zoo, parks, and library workers who say a contract quirk is costing them thousands of dollars a year — then moved swiftly through five resolutions funding everything from child abuse forensics to railroad rehabilitation.

• AFSCME members say switching job classifications resets their pay to entry level, even after decades of Metro service — a problem a councilmember pegged at just $327,000 to fix

• $1.18 million state grant application authorized for railroad track rehabilitation at Louisville Riverport

• $200,000 contract approved for forensic medical exams of physically abused children through Norton Children's

• $150,000 wastewater surveillance contract renewed with UofL, tracking measles, COVID, and RSV across Jefferson County

• Engineering firm KPFF locks in tax incentive after $2.77 million downtown expansion and 20 new jobs

Four AFSCME contracts covering the Louisville Zoo, Metro Parks, Corrections, and the Louisville Free Public Library determine employee pay based on "years in classification" rather than "years of Metro service." The result: workers who accept promotions or transfer between departments get knocked back to the bottom of the pay scale, sometimes losing thousands of dollars in annual wages despite decades on the job.