LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the third and final American Rescue Plan hearing held by the Metro Council's budget committee, city employees spoke up Monday.
"Our staff numbers continue to dwindle while inmate population grows," Daniel Johnson, a Metro Corrections employee, said.
Johnson recounted the spread of coronavirus, some of his coworkers sleeping in hotels to keep their families safe, and a staff that continues to dwindle. Most recently, he mentioned the three incidents over the weekend that injured corrections employees.
He called on the committee to increase wages at Metro Corrections, to recognize their hard work during the pandemic, and incentivize people to join the department.
He wasn't the only city employee asking for American Rescue Plan funding.
One woman from Local 2629 (a union for municipal employees) said, "put just something towards these good people who worked so hard for you for so long."
While council members were working from home, she recalled, city employees were working on the frontlines of the pandemic. She said more money would help them to, "keep working with all the people in the community to make Louisville all that it can be."
Public comment is still open, though in-person hearings are finished. You can comment here.
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