Ottawa city council voted to freeze their salaries for the next two years, but a motion to include a similar freeze for non-unionized city staff wages failed to pass.

The wage freeze, which will affect Mayor Larry O'Brien and all councillors, passed by a vote of 18 to three.

Coun. Rick Chiarelli had also sought to include a motion to freeze wages for all non-unionized city staff, but that motion was defeated in a separate vote.

Chiarelli's plan would have followed the lead of the provincial government, which announced a two year wage scale freeze for non-unionized workers in its budget last month.

Chiarelli's motion had the support of O'Brien, who has been calling on the province to extend its wage freeze plans to unionized staff as well.