Milwaukee Water Works staffing shortage, 'career ladder' pay issues

MILWAUKEE - FOX6 News has learned that staffing issues at the Milwaukee Water Works department are getting worse.

In February, a FOX6 investigation found the department is down dozens of people, leading the city to spend more on private contractors. After that story aired, an employee gave FOX6 new records showing how the city got to this point.

Gavin Kuck is an automation controls engineer.

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"I like my job. I like what I do," said Kuck. "I just would like to make a bigger difference."

Kuck took the job in 2018 with every intention of climbing the city’s career ladder. He shared with FOX6 a copy of the career matrix he was given when he was hired. It outlined if you learned more skills, you would move up the ladder and get paid more.

"I took that as a guarantee when I was hired," said Kuck.

Kuck also shared a copy of his performance review from May 2019. It, in part, read that he was "a pleasant person to work with."

His score on the review moved him up a level on the ladder, so Kuck was expecting a pay increase.

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"I waited until like the next pay period, and I didn’t see anything change. I was like huh, wonder what is going on, so I asked, and it’s on hold, we’re waiting for the Common Council," said Kuck.

Then Kuck and his coworkers got a letter from the city, explaining pay progressions, like moving up the ladder, were suspended. The letter explained the suspension was in part to pay for a 3% pay increase for city employees.

The employees weren’t the only ones surprised.

During a July 2019 finance and personnel committee meeting, Common Council members questioned the Department of Employee Relations about what happened to career ladders.

Alderwoman Milele Coggs admitted she did not know career ladders were removed from the budget when she voted in November 2018.

"I did not know in November when we voted that it would affect it," said Coggs.

FOX6 reached out to Coggs about this, but has not heard back.

When the Common Council learned career ladders were gone, they changed nothing for three years.

After more than 1,000 days and dozens of emails sent to both his direct boss and the department of employee relations, Kuck is still stuck on the same rung of the ladder.

"If I knew this was going to happen when I started, I would have went somewhere else," said Kuck.

What does this mean for Milwaukee taxpayers? Since 2019, Milwaukee Water Works has lost dozens of employees. At last check, there are 90 open positions.

FOX6's investigation revealed the city is filling the gaps with private contractors, who cost more money. Kuck, in-part, blames the staffing issues on the loss of career ladders. His boss, Water Works Administration Manager Patrick Pauly, does too.

At a Finance and Personnel Committee meeting in March 2022, Pauly said: "The pay progression is the only solution, and I don’t want to be dramatic about this, but we are reaching a tipping point."

It was only after FOX6 started investigating, and water works employees started showing up to meetings, that the Common Council started publicly talking solutions.

"We see the problem. The issue is we have a budget that is more or less defined by the state of Wisconsin," said Alderman Michael Murphy, the chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee.

Murphy said the city is considering using American Rescue Plan Act dollars to bring back a version of career ladders – at least for a few years.

"At the end of the day, the city just didn’t have the money to do the things we wanted to do," said Murphy.

Kuck said the staffing issues can’t wait. He hopes something changes so that residents' water keeps turning on.

"Things are not getting taken care of that should. Eventually, it’s going to be more obvious," said Kuck.