WMS members, who work for the WA State Dept. of Corrections, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify the State's proposal over a new collective bargaining agreement for the 2025-2027 biennium. The group of over 100 state employees organized with Teamsters 117 this last year.

The group's new labor agreement contains negotiated pay increases and many other rights and benefits. One of the most important of these is a "Just Cause" provision, which protects them against unreasonable discipline and requires the State to follow a standardized procedure when issuing discipline.

WMS CONTRACT VOTE DOCUMENT

You can view the 2023-2025 DOC contract here. The following document was voted on and approved by the WMS membership: 

Please contact our Director of Corrections & Law Enforcement Sarena Davis at 206-794-6671 if you are a WMS employee and have questions about the agreement. 

NEXT STEPS AND LOBBY DAY

In the coming weeks, the Office of Financial Management will analyze the agreement to determine if it is financially feasible. If determined feasible by OFM, the contract will be included in the Governor’s 2025-2027 operating budget. At that point, we will still need to secure funding for the contract during the 2025 legislative session.

In addition to making sure the legislature funds our agreement, we will need to pass interest arbitration rights if we want to continue to expand the rights, benefits, and protections of WMS employees.

Interest arbitration for WMS members will be one of our Union's top legislative priorities for 2025 and will require a large turnout at our DOC Lobby Day. More information about this event will be available soon.

Thanks again to our outstanding Union Negotiations Committee for representing you with compassion and professionalism at the bargaining table. As a reminder, if you are a WMS employee and have not yet activated your Union membership, please do so now:

Complete your Teamsters 117 membership application