Rotterdam mayor calls for pay increase for city councilors

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is calling for a pay increase for the municipal councilors in the large Dutch cities.

Currently councilors in municipalities with 357,001 or more inhabitants receive around 2,300 euros gross. Aboutaleb wants this to increase to 2,800 euros gross, Het Parool reports.

"Officially, councilor is a secondary function, but that is really nonsense", Aboutaleb said on Friday, according to the newspaper. "In practice, the council work takes up three to four days [per week]."

"In recent years, a lot of responsibilities have been transferred to the municipality. That means a lot more work for council members. On top of that, the council factions are getting smaller resulting in more work per member."

The Rotterdam mayor wants a national discussion about the remuneration for city councilors. Council members' pay is dependent on the number of inhabitants of the municipality they work in. Aboutaleb's proposal concerns Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague.