Pay step for state workers draws dispute

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published September 18, 2008

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A dispute about whether a contract with the largest state workers union goes too far in promising future pay raises prompted the Washington Federation of State Employees to change part of its contract.

The move comes as union members are voting whether to accept the contract. Voting continues until Sept. 29.

At issue is a new pay step for longtime workers. The contract says that if a worker has been at the top, Step L, for five years, he or she gets an additional 2.5 percent boost, Step M.

But because Step L wasn't created until 2007, no one would qualify for Step M until 2012 — a year after the new contract expires.

"You can't bind a future biennium's budget. This contract cannot bind a future Legislature. It was contrary to state law on its face," said Sonya Jones of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

The conservative Olympia think tank often tangles with unions. Jones said that because union contracts are tied to each two-year state budget, they can't make promises about 2012.

The same new pay step has been included in other contracts, such as the Teamsters' deal, which affects 6,400 prison workers.

The Washington Federation of State Employees says the clause about a new pay step is a placeholder for the 2012 contract.

"We realize we will have to come back in the next contract and negotiate that in. But it sends a message that the state values longevity," said Tim Welch, spokesman for the union.

He compared the language to the 2005 contract, which included a 1.6 percent pay raise that was not considered permanent. When the union bargained its next contract, it had to convince the governor's negotiators that the raise should be considered part of base pay, in addition to winning more raises.

"You simply cannot bind a future Legislature, but you can set goals in a contract," Welch said.

The governor's team has a different view, saying it effectively created Step M in the next budget by agreeing to it in the contract.

But because no one will qualify for the new step until 2012, it won't cost any money, explained Glenn Kuper, spokesman for the Office of Financial Management.