We’ve just launched an exciting new website for members of Teamsters 117. It focuses on the values we share as Teamsters – values like family, strength, and community.

In fact, that’s exactly where you can find it on the web, at FamilyStrengthCommunity.org.

On the site, you’ll see things we can all agree on – the need for wages to raise a family, strong and healthy communities, a secure retirement, and respect.

These are the things that unite us as Teamsters and what we are all fighting for.

Today, thousands of Teamsters 117 members across the state are working in solidarity to get out the same message of Teamsters unity.

With recent attacks by anti-union groups, like the "Freedom" Foundation and the impending Friedrichs decision, now it’s more important than ever to know what’s at stake and how we can work together to protect our future.

If you haven’t seen the flyer yet that will be distributed today by your Shop Stewards or workplace leaders, you can get informed by reading it here.

Want to join in making our union stronger? Please let your union representative know you’d like to participate in our Every Voice Counts Interview campaigns, and if you haven’t yet, sign a commitment card.

To learn more visit FamilyStrengthCommunity.org. 

Sticking together makes us strong. It also helps expose the agenda of radical groups like the so-called "Freedom" Foundation (see below).

As you know, King County implemented a Paid Parental Leave pilot program effective January 1, 2016.

Teamsters 117 bargaining units throughout the County will be voting on the policy since it affects the leave provisions in your collective bargaining agreement.

Ballots were mailed to your home address on Thursday, January 21 and must be received in the locked Local 117 drop box by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29 at one of the following locations:

• King County Admin Building (3rd Fl)
• Renton Roads
• Regional Justice Center

Voting instructions and a contact person for each location are available on your ballot. If you have not received your ballot by Tuesday, January 26, please call me at 206-441-4860 ext. 1232.

I also wanted to let you know that King County Total Compensation Bargaining took place here at the Teamsters Union hall on January 20. An update on bargaining will be available on our website by the end of next week.

Thank you!

The following is an update from the King County Coalition of Unions to all coalition members:

Paid Parental Leave

In order to answer any questions that may come up for members about Paid Parental Leave, we’ve scheduled a Q&A session on Thurs., Jan. 7, from 12-1 p.m. in King Street Center Room 3-D/3-E. For those unions that will put the paid parental leave policy to vote by its members, the County must receive the vote results prior to Feb. 1. Prior to the vote we will be sending out another email with more information about the policy.

New Member Orientation

Just a reminder that we have an opportunity to give a general union overview at the County orientations for new members. We will be putting together a presentation that will be given by a rotating cast of Coalition reps. The New Member Orientation Subcommittee will help develop and implement this program. Interested in serving on the New Member Orientation Subcommittee? Email Nikola Davidson at nikola@pte17.org.

Sincerely, Denise Cobden 
PTE17 & Coalition Co-Chair

Teamster Shop Stewards and other leaders at King County interviewed fellow members on Thursday as a part of our Every Voice Counts project.  Interviews took place in a relaxed environment, over lunch in the County's Chinook building.

You can view photos from the day's activity here.

The purpose of the event was to discuss issues at work, and brainstorm solutions. Folks had lots to say about how to improve their benefits and working conditions, and even their safety.

"I'm concerned about the recent shootings," said Enrique Ferrer, a weapons screener at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. "We could be susceptible to that, too."

Members also discussed recent attacks on labor, in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and a case currently before the Supreme Court that could place significant burdens on public sector unions.

If the Court rules against unions in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, it could create a union-hostile environment in public sector workplaces across the country. (See who's behind the Friedrichs case here.)

On Thursday, December 10, Teamsters at King County are invited to participate in a festive, lunchtime event.

We will be holding member interviews to discuss how we can build a stronger union through our commitment to each other and our communities.  

We will also be giving an update on negotiations and answering questions related to issues in the workplace.

This is a drop-in event that will take place between 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in the Chinook building. All Teamsters Local 117 members at King County are welcome to attend.

If you are planning to attend, please RSVP for the event here so we know how much food to provide.

For more information, contact Karen Estevenin at 206-441-4860 ext. 1244.

This is going to be a fun event - don't miss it!

As you may have heard, the King County Council is poised to adopt legislation on a Paid Parental Leave Pilot Program for King County employees (“the PPL program”).  It is referred to as a “pilot” because it would be implemented only for 2016 with its ongoing future dependent upon results of the pilot, subject to bargaining in the total compensation process.

This is an idea that had its origin with the King County Council and the King County Executive.  It is not an idea that was proposed by Local 117 or the King County Coalition of Unions and it was not identified in our surveys as a high priority among membership.  

The stakes have never been higher for union members as wealthy extremists are funding legislation and taking radical legal action to weaken labor unions, exacerbate income inequality, and make it harder for working people to pay the bills and support their families.

Several area labor unions joined members of Teamsters Local 117 on Saturday to discuss these issues and to put together a plan to preserve our wages and benefits and build a stronger union and a better future for ourselves and our communities. 

"Unions fight for the middle class," said Vicki Moore, a Local 117 Shop Steward at King County Elections, who participated in the event. "I noticed that in my lifetime, it's getting harder and harder to stay middle class and unions bolster up families and people like me."

Check out photos from our first-ever Public Sector Labor Summit here.

The most recent update from our King County Coalition of Unions outlines our priorities as a union with respect to a number of important issues. These include:

• Economic stability
• Equity
• Recognition and Appreciation
• Health

You can view the document in PDF form here. If you have any questions, please contact me for more information. Thank you!

Open enrollment for Teamsters at King County is November 1-15.

When you enroll, you will see that (at a time when most private and public sector employers are eroding health and welfare plan benefits as a way of shifting the cost to employees), King County plans will expand and improve benefits!

Effective January 1, 2016, your plan will provide 100% coverage for an extensive list of preventative care benefits and 100% coverage for contraceptives.

The Affordable Care Act did not require these improvements because King County’s plans have grandfathered status. Despite that, and the significant cost associated with providing these benefits (approximately $500,000 per year), the JLMIC was convinced that this was money well spent.

This is because preventative care is widely viewed by experts as a best practice from a plan design perspective.