By Clementine Brewer
Customer Service Specialist III at King County

This past summer, the challenges of working in a public building came to a head.

For five months a homeless encampment consumed the patio behind the King County Administration Building. This generated stress for employees, but it also opened our eyes to the needs of the homeless community and improving safety in and around our workplace.

The camp was erected by a homeless advocacy group as a plea to government officials for much needed resources. To many, this was another chapter in Seattle’s ongoing homelessness crisis. But to those who work in the Administration Building, it was a stark reminder of the reality of working in a public space. For nearly half a year we witnessed and experienced the sanitary and safety concerns of the encampment.

Members tally up the votes on the total comp agreement at the Teamsters hall in Tukwila on October 14. 

On Friday evening, member volunteers tallied up the votes on the total comp agreement between the Coalition of Unions and King County. You can view the results below: 

At Teamsters 117, we're making an effort to find new and innovative ways to connect with as many members at King County as possible. 

Yesterday we had our first live webinar to give you an opportunity to learn about the tentative contract agreement from our total comp negotiations with the County. You can view the recorded webinar below:

We will have one more live webinar tonight from 7-8pm. You can register for the event here.

In addition to the webinars, we are holding 15 contract update meetings in locations across the County, including a meeting today in the King County Admin building (Lean Lab 300) starting at 11:30am. 

You can find a complete list of the scheduled meetings on our website here.

Thank you so much for the important services you provide to our community. If you have any other ideas about how we can improve member communications, please let us know.

Our King County Coalition of Union has achieved a tentative agreement in total comp bargaining with the County. The proposal is fully recommended by the Union bargaining committee.

We will be holding contract update meetings in multiple locations around the County and two live webinars. The first webinar was held on September 28. You can view a recording of it below:

There will be one more opportunity to participate in a live webinar so you can ask questions.

Live Webinar - King County Total Comp  - Register Here!

• Thursday, September 29, 2016 from 7-8pm

At the meetings, we will present the proposal and you will have an opportunity to ask questions.

View the days, times, and locations of the meetings below. 

I’m excited to announce a major breakthrough in our total comp bargaining with King County.

Late yesterday afternoon, our Coalition of Unions achieved a tentative agreement with the County over all compensation elements in your contract. The agreement is fully recommended by your Union bargaining committee.

The agreement includes a 2.25 percent general wage increase in 2017 for all coalition members and a 2.75 percent increase in 2018 provided that the Union signs onto a separately-negotiated Master Agreement by the end of next year.

For the first time, the work of King County Union members will be recognized through a Coalition Premium and a separate wage table for Coalition members.

The agreement will increase the employer contributions to your health and welfare coverage. This means you will not pay any additional health care premium costs for 2017-2018.

We also achieved one additional vacation day added in 2017 and two vacation days added in 2018.

You can view an update from the Coalition with more details about the agreement here.

Our journey through the total comp bargaining process started over a year ago. It’s been an incredibly challenging experience. There have been many points along the way when it looked like negotiations would fall apart.

Our commitment, perseverance, and the outstanding work of your Union bargaining committee kept us together. Our team brought the voice of the entire membership to the table in powerful, persuasive ways.

I hope you’ll join me in extending my gratitude and appreciation to our entire team.

Over the next several weeks, we will coordinate meetings across the County to discuss the proposal. You will have an opportunity to vote on the agreement before the end of the year. We’ll let you know as soon as we have more information about the voting process.

Thank you for the important service you provide to our community and thank you for your membership in Teamsters Local 117.

Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer John Scearcy together with Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the MLKCLC Nicole Grant

At the recent delegates meeting of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, regular business was suspended for a special event to honor those Unions and their leadership for exceptional achievements on behalf of working people.

Over 150 organizations belong to the Council and more than 75,000 working men and women belong to Council-affiliated organizations. United, they are a voice for the interests of working people in King County. 

The leaders and unions that were honored were: Faye Gunther, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 21, Jon Holden, President of The Boeing Machinists Union, and our own John Scearcy, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 117.

We may be on the verge of an important breakthrough in our Total Comp negotiations with King County. This is great news, especially given the profound challenges we have faced over the last nine months of bargaining.

The County is still reviewing our latest proposal and will likely respond soon. Although we have not yet reached a tentative agreement, we are cautiously optimistic that a deal we can recommend to the membership is within sight.

Our Coalition of Unions met with the County again on Friday, July 29. In that session we made significant progress toward our goals. Those goals include across-the-board wage increases in both years of the contract, protection of our health and welfare benefits without premium share, and a separate wage table for Union Coalition members. 

We still have no clear answers in our effort to achieve a Total Comp agreement for Union members at King County. Our Union Coalition has put forth a comprehensive economic counterproposal and offered a clear pathway forward on a Joint Labor Agreement.

Now the ball is in the County’s court. Whether the County responds by recognizing King County Union members for the outstanding service they provide to the public or the employer continues down their current unproductive path will likely be determined in what could be our final bargaining session on Friday, July 29.

Negotiations got off track several weeks ago after the County abruptly introduced the idea of a Joint Labor Proposal (JLA), then tried to impose it on us by tying it to their economic proposal.

We expressed concerns about the County’s concept for the JLA from the start because it compromised important individualized provisions in our collective bargaining agreements. We also insisted on more equitable wage increases and health and welfare protections that reflect the cost of living in the Seattle metropolitan area.  

Currently, we have open positions for Shop Steward at the King County Prosecuting Attorney Office.

There are postings for Shop Steward at every PAO location. If you’d like to become a Shop Steward, please print your name on the posting at your location, or print out the document here, sign it and send it back to me before July 20.

The Shop Steward posting will be located on your Union Board within your location, this board can usually be found in an open area, copy room, and breakroom/lunchroom.

If you have any questions for any matter, please contact me at your earliest convenience at Bryon.perreira@teamsters117.org. – 206-441-4860 ext 1235. Thank you!

In unity,

Bryon Perreira
Business Representative
Teamsters Local 117  

After several months of bargaining, our Union Coalition’s negotiations with King County have become more polarized. 

Despite improved economic conditions, the County seems determined to offer less than it offered in the last round of coalition negotiations, suggesting annual cost of living adjustments of only 1.61% per year instead of the 2% and 2.25% increases in the last two years, AND a reduced annual contribution towards health and welfare benefits of only 2% each year instead of the 4% annual increase offered in the last bargain. 

“I don’t see that the County is willing to move on any of the goals that labor has put forward.” 
DAN FERNANDEZ Prosecuting Attorney Office

The Union Coalition is sending a strong message that this simply will not ratify given the economic growth and increased cost of living in the Seattle metropolitan area. 

On Wednesday, July 5, the County presented us with a formal counterproposal on all economic issues including wages and health and welfare benefits.  However, the County’s proposal did not involve any meaningful movement and was largely a reiteration of its prior offers. 

The County also rejected our proposal to universalize and improve the above top step pay systems. As you might expect, the Coalition’s negotiation team was disappointed and frustrated by the County’s failure to respond to our economics priorities. 

“It’s extremely disappointing. I don’t think the County is coming to the table to actually bargain. It seems to be: Here’s the plate. You can either eat from it, or too bad you can just walk away.” 
CHERYL ANN GUNDERSON, IT Manager