Our Coalition of Unions was back at it this week negotiating with the County over a new Coalition Labor Agreement.

Negotiations took place on Tuesday, March 11 and Thursday, March 13 at our Teamsters Union Hall in Tukwila. 

Over the course of the two sessions, we were able to make solid progress on working conditions and reached tentative agreement on several articles. 

Both our Union Coalition and the County have exchanged comprehensive economic proposals, but we have yet to make progress on economics and want to make sure any economic agreements capture the various priorities of our members. On Tuesday, the County presented some costing projections that we need to review more carefully as we don't necessarily agree with their methodology. 

BILINGUAL PAY

We have worked intensely on a bilingual premium pay proposal to ensure that Union members at the County who speak more than one language are appropriately recognized. We will be meeting as a caucus next week to refine our proposal, which we intend to present to the County soon.

Graciela Hernandez, a Shop Steward and Victim Advocate at the PAO, is part of the team that is working on the bilingual pay issue. You can watch her give a short video update from this week's negotiations below:

WORKING OUT OF CLASS & SPECIAL DUTY

We've had a lot of conversations as a Coalition about working out of class and special duty assignments to cover short-term vacancies. Our goal is to make sure the processes behind them are transparent and that members have the ability to take on higher level work in a way that is equitable and with recognition in their pay. 

In April, we will be convening a benefits summit to review our health care coverage as part of the Joint Labor Management Insurance Commission (JLMIC). Stay tuned for an update after that meeting.

In two weeks, we will be back at the negotiations table again to continue bargaining over the CLA. We anticipate getting more deeply into conversations about economics in those sessions.