Public works and clerical employees in Washougal have a newly ratified collective bargaining agreement.
The city council unanimously approved the agreement at its meeting Monday. The union, AFSME 307-W, gave its nod of approval to the agreement on Jan. 7.
For a city with belt-tightening measures built into its current budget, the pact with the union is considered a two-way compromise. It increases employee pay but decreases city contributions for other benefits.
“Frankly, (the union) has been a team player in terms of getting the city through some difficult times in the last few years,” Councilman Paul Greenlee said. “I don’t think in any sense the city is giving away the candy store here.”
In the works since summer, the collective bargaining agreement will cover roughly 40 of the city’s 82 employees. It includes an annual 1-percent cost of living increase. That figure is a boost over what was included in the previous agreement, covering 2012 and 2013. It contained a one-half of one percent annual bump in salary.
City officials say the cost of living increase is still well below the 3 percent bump the union received in prior agreements during the height of the recession, when the Consumer Price Index was on a downward dip.
Mayor Sean Guard referred to the pact as “very positive,” because the city received concessions from the union. They include city employees paying a $250 deductible instead of nothing for their health benefits. Employees also have the option of taking a high-deductible plan with a health savings account.
As part of the compromise, union employees will receive an extra day off in each of the next two years.
“Our biggest (issue) is trying to contain cost of living costs while giving some relief to our medical programs,” Guard said.
Vaughn Barber, the union’s president, said he had no comment on the agreement.
With one union agreement in place, city administrators now have two more to go.
For one, they’ll need the fire union to sign off on a merger between the Camas and Washougal departments. What still needs to be hashed out is how seniority and pay scales will work under the joint department.
The city will enter mediation with the police union Jan. 23, after the two sides reached an impasse in negotiations at the end of 2013. The union’s three-year contract expired in December.
“You never know in mediation what will come out,” said Jeanette Cefalo, the city’s human resources director. “It’s a process that has to be worked out.”
