Local 117 members have been working as a part of a broad coalition of unions to negotiate a Master Labor Agreement with King County.

We wanted to update you on the status of the Master Labor Agreement (MLA) negotiations between our coalition of unions and King County.

As you know, these negotiations started in March and have been ongoing throughout the summer. Our goal in bargaining is to consolidate the best language from contracts across the county into one general agreement that will apply to all unions in the coalition that vote to accept the MLA.

On July 29 and August 3, our coalition met, without the employer present, in caucus to discuss the county’s most recent proposals and to develop a strategy moving forward.

We are addressing issues that the membership identified, such as vacation leave, other kinds of leave (bereavement, jury duty, organ donor, donated, executive, etc.), volunteer time, holidays and eligibility, reclassification, special duty, professional development, longevity and merit pay, term-limited temps, and working out of classification.

Again, we are proposing to incorporate the strongest language found in county contracts on those issues for the purposes of the MLA.

“We’re listing our top priorities and our non-negotiables,” said Local 117 member Lynn Constantine, a Senior HR Analyst in Benefits and Payroll Operations. “We’re doing our job, trying to get the best deal.”

Today, we were back across the table for a short session with the employer. We presented the proposals we had developed in caucus to the county. The county said they would come prepared to give us a complete counterproposal at our next meeting on August 17.

If you have questions about MLA bargaining, please contact your bargaining committee member or your union representative.

Thank you for your service to the residents of King County, and thank you for your membership in Teamsters 117. 

Watch Lynn Constantine and Greg Rabourn give a quick summary of the negotiations.