Jefferson County Public Employees - Contract Ratified!

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“Participation in our ratification to confirm the agreement between the workers and the County is a crucial piece of union democracy- we appreciate everyone who came to vote!” - Tim Weissman, Environmental Health Specialist

On July 12, members attending the union contract votes at the courthouse and the public works conference room ratified the agreement by an overwhelming majority! Our Bargaining Team thanks everyone who showed up to vote for doing so.

Jefferson County Public Employees - Delay on Ratification Vote Pending Further Negotiations with Management

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Your bargaining team wants to let you know that after coming to what we believed was a Tentative Agreement on June 7, it appears that we have some details to work out with management and will be scheduling another bargaining session. 

We hope to be able to announce next week that these issues have been resolved and let the bargaining unit know when we will be able to hold a ratification vote, and we appreciate your patience! 

Our Bargaining Team: Tim Weissman, Quinn Grewell, Susan O’ Brien, Sarah Martin, John Pray.

Jefferson County Public Employees - Tentative agreement reached!

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After three bargaining sessions we have reached a tentative agreement with the county!

This recommended agreement includes:

  • Significant raises and improvements to the structure of the wage scale.

  • Conversion to a paid time off system with greater flexibility of use, a larger carry-over of hours year-to-year, and the addition of a catastrophic sick leave bank.

  • Expansion of longevity bonuses to include workers with 30, 35, 40, and 45 years of service.

  • Inclusion of grandparents and grandchildren in bereavement leave in the event of the loss of a family member.

Notice of the date and time of the contract ratification vote will be forthcoming shortly.

“We feel this is a damn excellent deal!”

- Tim Weissman, Office of Environmental Health Services

Jefferson County Bargaining commences!

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Our Union Bargaining Team met with the Employer on May 16 to present our initial proposals including both economic and non-economic issues. Our initial conversations were productive, and the Employer seemed receptive to some of our ideas.

We look forward to the hard work of securing a collective bargaining agreement that improves pay and working conditions for all.

We will meet with the Employer again on June 6 and 7 with more tentative dates scheduled later in June.

Don’t miss out on important bargaining updates, union benefits, and contract vote updates.

Make sure your contact information is up to date

Jefferson County - Contract Ratified

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On Friday, November 12, Jefferson County members ratified the new union contract. We are now asking the Employer to process the pay raises and retroactive pay as soon as possible, as well as working on the finalized version of the document to be submitted to the Jefferson County board for final approval.

If you have any questions please contact Ryan Degouveia at (360) 662-1989.

Jefferson County Tentative Agreement Reached Vote meetings scheduled

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The Bargaining Committee is pleased to announce that a new tentative agreement has been reached with Jefferson County that includes wage increases and other improvements with NO TAKEAWAYS.

UFCW 21 members in good standing are encouraged to attend the meeting, ask questions, and vote on the contract.

Vote on this fully recommended offer at these times and locations on Friday, November 12:

12pm - 1:30pm
Castle Hill Public Health
Main Conference Room
615 Sheridan St, Port Townsend, WA 98368

5pm - 6:30pm
Jefferson County Courthouse
Courtroom
1820 Jefferson St, Port Townsend, WA 98368

Jefferson County: Unprepared or Unwilling?

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Unfortunately, our negotiations with Management today were short, as they did not have “the authority” to go beyond their first proposal offered to us 13 days ago.

Our Bargaining Committee has already offered a counterproposal to the Employer and we didn’t want to bargain against ourselves; so instead, we used the time to draft proposals for the County’s “Telecommuting Policy” and issues with FMLA leaves, which we will be presenting to them at our next bargaining session. When that is depends on when the Employer’s representatives have "the authority" to make us a counter offer beyond what they initially put on the table.

In the meantime, we are preparing to take action so stay tuned for the next bargaining update!

“We all have jobs to do, and it is surprising that the employer came to the table today unprepared to bargain with us.  What they gave us could have been delivered in an email!” —Susan O’Brien, Jefferson County Nurse Practitioner

Jefferson County - Bargaining Begins!

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In our first bargaining session on July 21 for the new union contract, our Bargaining Team met with the Employer and proposed: 

  • Improvements to vacation and bereavement leave

  • New holidays for Juneteenth and Christmas Eve

  • Extending seniority protections for extended leaves

  • Improvements to Longevity Pay

  • Wage increases and wage scale adjustments that recognize the economic realities we all live under as County Employees 

While Management did make an initial proposal that was better than previous bargains and shared things in common with our proposals, we are far apart on the amounts, especially when it comes to wages. 

“While it was encouraging that we had similar ideas, the wage increases Management proposed were so far below our own, it was hard not to have hard feelings about it.”

—Tim Weissman