NEGOTIATING NEW contracts sometimes can turn into almost a full-time occupation for union members and local government administrators.

For example, when a contract expires in three years and bargaining drags on for almost that long, the time soon arrives for a new contract to be negotiated. Not only is the ongoing process time consuming, but it also can be costly, particularly when the administration hires outside consultants to conduct bargaining.

Now a new state measure, three years in the making, is bringing relief. House Bill 5251 was first advanced by Sen. Mark Doumit (D-Cathlamet). This year, after Doumit left office, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), chair of the Labor, Commerce, Research and Development Committee, took up the baton and the measure was approved in the 2007 State legislative session. It allows for collective bargaining agreements to be made for up to six years rather than the three-year limit previously in place.

“The bill was a bi-partisan measure and never had any real opposition, but in the first year it fell off the table and in the second year it was passed by the Legislature, but vetoed by Gov. Chris Gregoire because it inadvertently encompassed some state employment groups,” explains Council 2 Deputy Director Pat Thompson. “The new measure addressed those concerns by being applicable only to local government employees in cities, towns and special districts.”

Thompson says the measure is another tool that can allow for more stability in local government as well as unions by enabling them to predict future costs.

By adding four-year, five-year and six-year contracts, it provides negotiators with the flexibility to extend agreements when this would be beneficial. Cost savings can also be passed on to employees.

“Such flexibility is allowed in the private sector,” Thompson says. “But, until now, it was not possible in the public sector.”

What if inflation or health costs take off during the six years the contract is in place? Such eventualities can be accommodated by linking pay increases to the Consumer Price Index so that increases in inflation will be reflected in pay increases and by expressing health benefits in percentages rather than actual figures.

Such ties were included when members of Local 1191, representing Walla Walla County Public Works Road Department, negotiated a five-year contract earlier this year.

“We were able to tie pay increases with the Seattle-Tacoma CPI, which normally is greater than those this side of the mountains,” explains Alpha O’Laughlin, Staff Representative in Walla Walla.

O’Laughlin adds that the County was receptive to discussions that involved saving money through not having to hire an outside contractor for the next five years.

Health insurance was not an issue, O’Laughlin says, because the County pays 100 percent of employee benefits, so no matter how high they might go, workers will remain covered through the five years of the contract.

“In this way, employees could see they will not miss out on their insurance,” O’Laughlin adds.

“For at least five years we will not be back haggling over health insurance. Also, from a union standpoint, we are not in a constant state of negotiating contracts. Previously, when negotiations went beyond a deadline, you had only a short time before you went into negotiations again.”

A six-year contract is being negotiated for two Clallam County Locals where corrections sergeants (Local 1619-CS) and sheriff patrol sergeants (Local 1619-S) are bargaining with the County over wages and benefits.

A wrinkle in the contract, if it is approved, would be that the agreements on wages and medical benefits can be reopened in four years, allowing for changes to be made should significant shifts in the economy occur.

Another six-year contract is on the table in Grays Harbor where workers for the City of Hoquiam, Local 275, on Oct. 25 concluded negotiations with the City on wages, benefits and changes in language.

The Local has approved the contract. The City is expected to ratify it soon. The contract calls for six years of guaranteed wage increases at 3 percent a year.

A benefit of the six-year time frame in this case is that it allows employees to be raised to the same level in wages and benefits as other jurisdictions, says Kathy Brown, Council 2 Staff Representative in Olympia.

At the end of the contract life their wages and benefits will be in line with the state average in cities with populations ranging from 7,500 to 15,000, she adds.