Our first bargaining session with the State over your 2017-2019 DOC collective bargaining agreement took place on Tuesday, April 26, at your Teamsters Headquarters in Tukwila.

We have spent several months preparing for these negotiations, by collecting your feedback through the contract survey process, at our demands meetings, and with the bargaining committee to formulate our proposals.

On Monday, prior to negotiations, our Union bargaining team met for the full day to review any outstanding issues. We had excellent discussions on strategies for improving language and economics. In cases of differing opinions, committee members had the opportunity to vote to finalize specific proposals.

On Tuesday, we met with the State starting at 9 A.M. In our opening statement, I stressed the importance of bargaining in good faith, staff safety, and the need to equitably recognize the outstanding work you perform to keep our communities safe.

We reviewed many of the language issues in our proposal. The State caucused, then returned to ask clarifying questions, but did not respond to our proposal. In our Union caucuses, we spent time working on additional proposals to pass to the State at our next bargaining session.

We anticipate that the State will present their language proposals in our next meetings, which are scheduled for May 23-24 at the General Administration Building in Olympia. For a complete bargaining schedule and a list of our Bargaining Committee members, click here.

If you have questions, talk to one of our Bargaining Committee members or your Business Representative.

Thank you for your service. Please be safe.