AFTER MORE THAN a year’s intensive bargaining, a Snohomish County Master Agreement covering some 1,300 workers was ratified in September. The agreement applies to the period from this year through 2008.

Covering several Locals at the same time, master agreements set out basic principles that apply to all the Locals involved. Each bargaining unit negotiates its own addendum that outlines specific issues that relate only to that work group.

The Snohomish County Master Agreement covers Locals 109, 109-E, 1811-C and 1811-CA. In addition, Superior Court employees represented by 1811-jpd and District Court employees in 1811-CA also ratified economic and non-economic agreements for the same period as the Master Agreement.

“We aimed high and we achieved many of our goals,” says James Trefry, the Council 2 staff representative who led the negotiations. “The contract gives our members a larger percentage of the Consumer Price Index used for cost-of-living adjustments than any previous contract.”

The cost-of-living adjustment in the contract provides for increases of 100 percent of the June-to-June Seattle Consumer Price Index in 2005, 2.19 percent in 2006 and 95 percent of the cpi for the rest of the contract.

Medical contributions are locked in at the 2004 level. “Members will not pay any more than they were paying in 2004 for the life of the contract,” Trefry says.

Trefry paid tribute to Loydean Wood, a trustee of Local 109-E, who volunteered to serve as recording secretary for the sessions. The Master Agreement meetings were held at the rate of two or three a month. In addition, meetings were held on the addenda for the individual Locals and bargaining units.

She kept notes on all the meetings, keeping the whole process organized, Trefry says. “She freed us up to have full discussions without having to concentrate on taking notes.”

Trefry also thanked the presidents of the Locals involved who assisted in the negotiations.

They were: Roger Moller (President) and Pete Dykstra (Vice-President) of Local 109; Gerri DeLisle (President) and Scott White of Local 109-E; Tom Blum (President) of 1811-C and Jay Crockett (President) and Jay Fraser (former Vice-President) of Local 1811-CA.