We have lots of great news to share from Olympia!

On Saturday, our interest arbitration bill (SB 5021) for Teamsters at the DOC cleared yet another critical hurdle when it passed out of the House Appropriations committee on a vote of 26-6.

The bill has now successfully passed out of all of its fiscal and policy committees in the House of Representatives and is in the House Rules Committee awaiting a vote on the House floor.  Passage in the House is the final step before the bill gets sent to the Governor for his signature.

Interest arbitration is important because it levels the playing field when we are in negotiations with the State. With interest arbitration, we can take mandatory subjects of bargaining to a neutral third-party arbitrator if we reach impasse in negotiations.

In more good news from Olympia, our bill (HB 1589) that restores the right for trained DOC personnel to carry a concealed weapon is in the Senate Rules Committee and requires only a Senate floor vote and the Governor’s signature to secure passage.

Our other top priority is to ensure that our DOC contract gets funded. On that front, things are looking promising as well.  While budget negotiations are ongoing, both the House and the Senate have included funding for our collective bargaining agreement in their budgets.

This is all fantastic news. Our collective voice as Teamsters this legislative session has been incredibly strong and made a tremendous impact.  Thank you for working so hard to make sure legislators hear our voice and to build a strong political program that makes these kinds of victories possible.