This summer, we conducted focus groups for 48 Local 117 members in the public sector, including several Teamsters at King County.  We wanted to hear from you about how to build a stronger Union that can more effectively fight for fair wages and good benefits for all members.  

King County employees spend their day providing outstanding service to our community.  They clear our streets, maintain our roads, clean up our parks, provide safe drinking water, protect our environment, treat our mentally ill, and keep our communities safe. 

In August, Teamsters at King County had the opportunity to vote on a tentative COLA agreement that had been negotiated by the King County Coalition of Unions. 

The agreement was fully recommended by your Local 117 bargaining committee.   The vote was conducted by a mail-in ballot, and votes were tabulated by members at the Union Hall in Tukwila on August 13.

In all, ten of eleven Local 117 bargaining units voted to approve the agreement. 

The agreement includes a 2% cost-of-living increase for all impacted County employees in 2015 and a 2.25% increase in 2016.  It also includes a flat lump sum bonus of $500 per employee payable to Coalition bargaining unit members only. 

Under the agreement, the County is required to pay eligible members their $500 bonus on or before December 31.  As soon as we hear when the County will be dispersing your bonus, we will let you know.  Thank you for exercising your right to vote on your contract!

As you know, the King County Coalition of Unions bargained a tentative agreement that includes cost-of-living increases for all impacted County employees in 2015 and 2016.  The agreement also includes a flat lump sum bonus of $500 per employee payable to Coalition bargaining unit members only.  This agreement is fully recommended by your Union's bargaining committee.

In July and August, we will be holding four lunchtime meetings to discuss the agreement.  At the meetings, we will present and review the agreement and answer your questions.  You can review the tentative agreement and a FAQ document before the meeting.    

Please make an effort to attend and make your voice heard!  To RSVP, click on the date of the meeting you want to attend:

Each bargaining unit will have an opportunity to vote on the agreement before August 14.  

If you have any questions, please contact your Business Representative. As always, thank you for your incredible service to the residents of King County!

We are pleased to report that the Coalition of King County Unions has negotiated a tentative agreement with the County that includes cost-of-living increases for all impacted County employees in 2015 and 2016. Your Union's General Counsel Spencer Thal was one of the lead negotiators for the Coalition.  

The agreement also includes a flat lump sum bonus of $500 per employee payable to Coalition bargaining unit members only on or before December 31, 2014.  

This agreement is fully recommended by the Union's negotiations team. You can access a detailed summary document that outlines the changes here.

Each bargaining unit will have an opportunity to vote on the agreement before August 14.  We will be holding informational meetings in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned for times and locations.

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014, representatives of the King County Coalition of Unions met with King County to present the Coalition’s counterproposal regarding the 2015/2016 COLA. 

King County Teamsters - Today is the last day to do your civic duty and VOTE!  That's right, there's an election going on, about a critical issue for Teamsters - transportation.  If you haven't already, please mark your ballot YES for Proposition 1 to improve our transportation system by saving Metro and fixing roads.

Proposition 1 will decide the fate of our transportation future in King County for years to come, whether you drive a car or take the bus. A bipartisan, unanimous County Council voted to place this issue on the ballot, and it’s being supported by business, labor, non-profit organizations as well as both Republican and Democrat elected officials.  And it will support additional Teamster jobs.

Proposition 1 proposes a $60 annual car tab fee and a one-tenth-of-a-cent increase in the sales tax.  60% of the revenue generated by the measure would be spent on transit to prevent massive cuts to Metro, while 40% would go to maintain and repair our roads throughout the county, enabling cities and the county to:

• Repave the heaviest-volume roads.
• Fix or replace bridges that otherwise would need to be closed.
• Make our roads and streets safer.
• Improve flooding/stormwater management.
• Widen roads and improve signals where needed to improve roadway carrying capacity.

These funds will go to every city and unincorporated area in the county.  For more information on how this would affect you and your city, please click here.

So vote now, and vote yes on Prop 1!

Teamsters at King County - A new issue of your Local 117 newsletter is now available!  

This issue has some tips about defending your rights and staying out of trouble at work.  We've also got a brief update on COLA bargaining as well as info about a scholarship for your Teamster kids who are applying for college.

Check out your online newsletter here.

King County is scrambling to stave off the possibility of huge reductions in Metro bus service and the further erosion of our public transportation infrastructure. 

If voters do not approve a funding measure on April 22, Metro stands to lose 74 bus routes, and over 100 routes would have to change.  Residents would see more crowded buses, longer wait times, less reliable service, more traffic, and longer commutes.

The measure proposes a $60/annual car tab fee and a one-tenth-of-a-cent increase in the sales tax.  King County gained the authority to take the measure to the voters when the Council unanimously approved the creation of a transportation district on Feb. 11.

VOTE YES FOR TRANSPORTATION ON APRIL 22:  We’ve already seen a 44% decrease in transportation funding since 2008.  Vote YES to save Metro, preserve the low-income fare program, and protect family-wage jobs!

King County will be mailing out ballots on April 2, so you should be receiving them in the mail by April 4 or 5.

Sometimes it feels like just getting up and going to work every day is an heroic act.  Through our work, we serve our communities, pay the bills, and put food on the table for our families.  That’s about as heroic as it gets, right?

Well, for one Teamster at King County, the daily grind presented an opportunity to do a little bit more.  Randy Smith, a supervisor in the County’s Wastewater Treatment Division, and his SEIU 925 crew, helped assist in a rescue operation of a man who had fallen into a raw sewage tank in Discovery Park.

When a crew member heard the man screaming as he was making his rounds at the plant, Randy and his crew took immediate action to help save the man and called 911.  Firefighters were dispatched to the scene, and the man was taken to the Harborview Medical Center.

So let’s hear it for the quick-acting Teamster who helped save a man’s life while doing his job.  You can’t get much more heroic than that!