Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 20, 2004
Contact:  Washington Works, 360-902-0527
Alt Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

State Reaches Tentative Agreements with More Unions

OLYMPIA - Sept. 20, 2004 - Gov. Gary Locke today announced that the state has reached tentative contract agreements with nearly all unions representing state employees in collective bargaining. Locke made the announcement from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during a 10-day trade mission to Asia.

“It took a lot of hard work, and we’re very pleased with the success of the first year of our new labor relations process,” Locke said. “I applaud all sides for working together to make this happen. I want to especially thank chief negotiator Eva Santos for her efforts.”

Six agreements now have been reached with the following unions representing general government state employees:
· Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28
· Washington Public Employees Association, UFCW, Local 365
· International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, Local 17
· The Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 117
· United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1001
· Coalition of unions (includes Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 760; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 76; Washington State Patrol Communication Managers Association; Plumbers & Pipefitters, Local 32; International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, Washington Association of Professional Biologists; and Washington State Nurses Association)

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing 800 state-employed nurses, is the only union without a tentative agreement. Talks will continue this week.

“I encourage the continuation of these talks,” Locke said. “We’re hopeful that we will have an agreement in time.”

Chief state negotiator Eva Santos and her team also reached two tentative agreements this weekend with the unions that represent state community colleges and The Evergreen State College. Added to the six tentative agreements in general government reached earlier, these two higher education agreements bring the total to eight out of nine agreements being negotiated.

“These agreements represent a lot of hard work on both sides of the table,” Santos said. “It’s now up to bargaining unit members to ratify the contracts, so that they can be included in the governor’s budget proposal.”

If ratified by the 48,000 state employees represented by these eight agreements, the contracts would include a 3.2 percent wage increase starting July 2005.

The tentative agreements reflect a multi-union agreement that limits the state’s contribution for health care to 88 percent of estimated premium costs, leaving employee contributions at an estimated 12 percent.

In addition, contracts with unions representing employees whose salaries have lagged more than 25 percent behind market rates for workers in similar jobs would receive varying increases to bring those salaries to within 25 percent of the prevailing rate.

Employees receiving these market rate increases were identified using the 2002 Salary Survey conducted by the state Department of Personnel and includes hundreds of job classes including: park rangers, engineers, dental assistants, lab technicians, plumbers, judges, welders, chemists, geologists, cartographers and electrical inspectors.

All agreements also include varying second-year increases that will expire after the 12 months they are in effect.

If state workers represented by the unions ratify the agreements, and funding is approved by the Legislature, the wage increases take effect July 1, 2005, the first year of the two-year contracts. Under these tentative agreements, all employees covered by the contracts can vote on ratification.

All ratified contracts are due to the state Office of Financial Management by Oct. 1. Locke will submit the economic terms of the agreements to the Legislature in his 2005-07 budget proposal.

The 2005 Legislature has the role of approving or rejecting the cost of the agreements. If the cost proposal is rejected, that would trigger a return to negotiations, or unions could request mediation.

Listed below are the general wage increases by union for 2005 and 2006:

General Government:
-Washington Federation of State Employees: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% increase in 2006;
-Teamsters: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 2.9% increase in 2006;
-United Food & Commercial Workers: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% increase in 2006;
-International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% increase in 2006;
-Washington Public Employees Association: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% increase in 2006;
-Coalition of Smaller Unions: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% in 2006.

Higher Education:
-Washington Federation of State Employees: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% in 2006;
-Washington Public Employees Association: 3.2% increase in 2005 and 1.6% increase in 2006.

Historic Personnel Changes
This year’s contract negotiations, which began in February, marked the first time in state history that unions have been able to bargain with the state for wages and benefits. The new Personnel System Reform Act passed by the Legislature in 2002 expanded the state’s collective bargaining activities to include wages and benefits. In the past, the Legislature unilaterally set those terms.

The state’s coordinated effort to implement the new law is called “Washington Works.” Washington Works uses provisions of the Personnel System Reform Act - civil service reform, collective bargaining and competitive contracting - to improve Washington’s high-performance government.

The goal of the legislation is to enable state managers and employees to perform their jobs more effectively, make employment rules consistent and easy to understand, and create a flexible personnel system that anticipates and responds to changing needs.

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Related Links:
- Washington Works

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