Contract Agreement Ends Strike Threat But Disputes Still Are Unresolved In County Prosecutor’s Office

The union representing Spokane County workers agreed Monday to a contract that excludes employees in District Court and the prosecutor’s office.

The agreement ends the threat of a strike by about 1,000 county employees but does little to ease tension in the prosecutor’s office, which had been the center of the labor dispute.

Under the agreement, county employees - including those who work for the judges and Prosecuting Attorney Jim Sweetser - will get 2 percent cost-of-living increases retroactive to Jan. 1, said Jim Lindow, the county’s chief administrative officer.

But employees in those two departments must negotiate their own working conditions, Lindow said. In Sweetser’s office, that includes whether they can be fired at his discretion.

Union leaders wanted a single contract covering all employees, and workers ratified such a contract in October.

But Sweetser and the judges obtained a restraining order preventing county commissioners from signing any contract that included their employees. The prosecutor and judges said that, as elected officials, they alone should negotiate working conditions for their employees.

In a blow to the union, a Lincoln County judge ruled earlier this month that Sweetser and the judges are right. Three days later, union members backed away from a strike vote, deciding instead to try one more attempt at negotiation.

Other than excluding some employees, the contract approved Monday is essentially the same as the one ratified in October, said Lindow.

Union representative Bill Keenan said he’s pleased with the contract.

“It isn’t everything we wanted, and it isn’t everything the county wanted,” he said. “There was a real compromise there.”

Keenan said Sweetser gave ground by agreeing to negotiate a separate “interim” contract for his employees under collective-bargaining laws.

The union also reserved the right to appeal the court ruling.

, DataTimes