Valley OKs first labor deals

Spokane Valley adopted its first labor contracts Tuesday, ending two and a half years of negotiating over who could be a part of the union and what should be included in a new collective bargaining agreement.

“This … is really the foundation for years to come,” said Dean Vercruysse, staff representative of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees.

In October 2003, several people petitioned to join the union, which also represents employees in Spokane County and the cities of Spokane and Cheney.

After an initial dispute over which employees could be allowed to join, the city and the union began negotiations in April 2005 that affect 36 of the city’s 60 or so employees.

“It seemed long, but it really wasn’t,” Vercruysse said.

A state mediator was brought in to assist in negotiations in January, but both Vercruysse and city officials said the amount of time taken to negotiate the contract is not unusual given that it is the city’s first.

Two contracts were approved by the council Tuesday. One covers the rest of this year, and the other runs through 2009.

One grants union employees a 6 percent cost-of-living increase for 2006, the first since the city’s incorporation. The other grants a 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise each year of the contract after that.

The council also passed cost-of-living raises for non-union employees Tuesday and earlier this year, which total a 6 percent increase in wages.

Benefits, pay, schedules, procedures for settling disputes and job security were among the issues debated in the negotiations.

Under the new contracts, the city can no longer fire or dismiss an employee without just cause after he or she has completed a probationary period.

Because much of the public work in Spokane Valley is conducted by private companies or other governments through contracts with the city, the labor contract also stipulates that if the city contracts out more services, the union can request bargaining if the move affects existing city employees.

It also forbids strikes and lockouts.

The City Council passed both contracts 5 to 1, with Councilman Gary Schimmels absent from the meeting.

Councilman Rich Munson voted against the contracts, saying that he didn’t agree with a requirement that new employees have to join the union and pay dues as a condition of employment.