Prison Workers Take Steps To Switch Unions Teamsters Request Election To Decertify Existing Union

Washington’s prison employees are taking steps to break out of their current union.

Hundreds have signed cards stating that they want to switch from the Washington Public Employees Association to another collective bargaining representative.

And the Teamsters Union, which has been courting Department of Corrections workers the past few months, has formally requested an election to decertify the WPEA.

The Teamsters claim they have the support of at least 30 percent of the DOC employees. A neutral party, the Washington Department of Personnel, will determine if that is the case. If 30 percent of those covered by the bargaining unit request decertification, an election would be scheduled.

Nearly 4,000 DOC workers, including custody officers, maintenance workers, and food and health service employees, are now represented by the WPEA.

Teamster representative Joni Mason met recently with some of the 450 DOC employees at Airway Heights.

He was well received there, said Joe Kuhn, a DOC corrections officer. DOC employees are dissatisfied with the WPEA for not being a strong representative. “I know for a long time, we had a lot of members pulling their dues,” he said. “They (at the WPEA) haven’t done a whole lot for us in the past.”

While a decertification election is being decided, the WPEA plans to continue negotiations with the state over the DOC contract which expires in November.

Katherine Cunningham, the WPEA’s corrections program director and chief negotiator, said, “The WPEA’s intention is to continue negotiations for the new state-wide agreement. We intend to keep our commitments to our people.”

Those commitments include continuing the labor management meetings and local grievance and unfair labor practice hearings.

Once it has determined if the decertification effort has the support of enough employees, the Washington Department of Personnel will ask if any other union thinks it has the support of at least 10 percent of the bargaining unit and if it wants to be included on a union election ballot. Only after that can the prison employees vote in a new union.

“It’s kind of a lengthy process,” said Sharon Peck, of the Washington personnel department. “It usually takes about two months.”

, DataTimes