County Workers Delay Strike Decide In Closed-Door Meeting To Let Negotiators Take Over

Spokane County workers aren’t going to strike - at least not yet.

In a closed-door union meeting, members of seven locals decided Thursday night to defer a strike vote until negotiators have another chance to settle disagreements.

Some of the approximately 800 county employees who attended the meeting said they doubted a strike vote would have passed with the required 90 percent yes vote.

“Nobody would have voted for it,” said a longtime employee who asked not to be identified.

The decision to defer the strike vote was made by a show of hands, members said. No count was taken.

“The motion was made pretty quickly. The discussion was short, and the vote was overwhelming,” said Ron Cunningham, a probation officer who brought his 3-year-old son to the meeting at Washington Water Power Co. headquarters.

Negotiators have scheduled a meeting for Nov. 18.

But neither side appears ready to budge on the biggest sticking point: Should workers from the prosecutor’s office and District Court be included in a contract that would cover most other county employees?

Prosecutor Jim Sweetser and the judges say that as elected officials, they should negotiate separate contracts. Sweetser contends - and a Lincoln County judge agreed Monday - that his deputy prosecutors do not have collective bargaining rights.

County commissioners are stuck in the middle, with union leaders urging them to sign the master contract their members have already ratified.

But Sweetser and the judges obtained a restraining order forbidding commissioners from signing any contract that includes employees of the two agencies.

County workers attending Thursday’s hour-long meeting had harsh words for Sweetser.

“He’s trying to break the union and if he succeeds … it will happen across the country,” said Jana Steptoe, a 911 operator.

Sweetser, who was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment, has threatened to fire any employees who strike. Some workers from other departments said they would strike to support Sweetser’s employees.

“If they aren’t (on the picket line), it doesn’t matter,” said Tim Wink, a 20-year public works employee. “We’re there for them.”

Sweetser was more sympathetic to strikers - and even walked the picket line at times - when county employees walked out for six days in 1993.

Chris Dugovich, president of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, said he has a souvenir picket sign autographed by Sweetser and others.

A deputy prosecutor at the time of the strike, Sweetser was elected prosecutor in 1994 with strong support from employees.

“He sounded more union than me,” said Ray Ripley, vice president of the local that represents employees at Geiger Corrections Center.

Sweetser’s predecessor, Donald Brockett, suspended workers one day without pay for each day they stayed off the job in 1993. In March 1995, Sweetser repaid the lost wages and purged the employees’ files of letters of reprimand.

Martin Muench, a deputy prosecutor who serves as Sweetser’s spokesman on labor issues, said Sweetser made that amnesty agreement only after the union agreed to let him set working conditions.

“Now the unions are trying to renege on that agreement,” Muench said. “No wonder (Sweetser’s) attitude has changed.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The dispute Union members claim the county backed out of its agreement to negotiate a single contract for nearly all workers. Already ratified by the union and tentatively approved by county commissioners, the master contract guarantees employees will not be fired without “just cause.” Prosecutor Jim Sweetser and District Court judges obtained a restraining order preventing county commissioners from signing any contract that includes their departments. They contend that as elected officials, they alone should set working conditions - including conditions for firing.