COUNCILLORS are lobbying Stormont civil servants for wage "equality" with MLAs and MPs.
A union representing councillors has written to the Department for Communities (DfC) calling for an "urgent review of councillors' remuneration and benefits".
The Northern Ireland branch of the National Association of Councillors (NACNI) wants the review to re-examine councillors' pay and introduce severance entitlements.
The group has also been meeting with Stormont's main parties over the past year to seek support.
In NACNI newsletters seen by The Irish News, the body updates councillors on its push for "equality between councillors and other political representatives".
It describes a "huge disparity between the remuneration of councillors and that of MLAs, even though councillors work just as hard".
There are 462 councillors across the north, who each receive a basic annual allowance of around £14,000.
The basic salary for MPs is £77,379. MLAs usually receive £49,500 but this has been cut to £42,075 due to Stormont's collapse. A further drop due in January will reduce their salaries to £35,888.
On its website, NACNI also outlines its campaigning for "councillor equality".
"We are actively working to try to bring councillors' allowances and benefits closer to those received by other public representatives such as MLAs and MPs," it reads.
"We would like to close this gap and have been lobbying for reviews in relation to councillors' remuneration, severance pay, pension, office facilities and equipment.
"We feel that the current political situation is creating a bigger workload for councillors as the public deem this to be their first port of call for connecting with government, and that the additional responsibilities that councillors have taken on over recent years should to be given recognition by local government."
In its October newsletter, NACNI told members it had written to the DfC permanent secretary to request a meeting and that an "urgent review of councillors' remuneration and benefits is carried out with an emphasis on the introduction of a severance payment element".
The newsletters also describe meeting with various parties including Sinn Féin representatives who were "sympathetic to our case", and DUP MP Ian Paisley who "supported our view that councillors deserved better remuneration".
NACNI is funded by the north's 11 councils and is made up of councillors acting as delegates from each local authority.
Michael Henderson, chair of NACNI, said councillors are seeking a review that was supposed to have been carried out following local government reform in 2014, which handed councils a raft of new powers including planning decisions.
The Ulster Unionist councillor did not put a figure on what level of remuneration NACNI wanted, but said it should "reflect the work you're doing".
However, he said many councillors felt they were doing "exactly the same as MLAs" following Stormont's collapse.
"We're not saying we want more money, we're saying we want a review carried out and proper judgement. We were promised this was going to happen," he said.
"We're not asking for anything that wasn't promised to us, but everything has stalled because there is no assembly."
He added: "A councillor is a job. You're elected like any other political representative. You're under a code of conduct.
"The job role when we first started five years ago has matured and developed, and what we're saying is because that's happening and continuing to happen we need a review to be carried out."
But Chloe Westley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, hit out at NACNI's lobbying.
"Instead of focusing on doing a better job for local residents this year, local government representatives are going behind ratepayers' backs and lobbying for more money to line their own pockets," she said.
"This is especially out of order given that they take on far less responsibility than councillors in England.
"If councillors wish to be rewarded for a job well done, then they should seek the approval of local residents."
