In June, PROTEC17 King County members, along with members from over 20 other unions in the King County Coalition of Unions, reached a tentative agreement on their Coalition Labor Agreement (CLA) for 2026-2028. Then over the summer, additional changes to individual unit appendices were negotiated at “small table” bargaining, and tentative agreements were reached in all units in August. Coalition members then voted by unit on the package deal. At the close of voting in early September, all PROTEC17 units covered by the CLA had ratified their contracts.

The new contract secures a minimum 10.5 percent wage increase over the three-year period, and includes many other gains for Coalition represented employees. 

One of the new improvements in the CLA is a historic, Coalition-wide bilingual premium. Previously, bilingual premiums existed inconsistently across the County and those critical language skills were not well compensated. The new contract language provides tiers of consistent premiums for employees using their language skills as part of their work. 

Our PROTEC17 and Coalition union siblings also won improvements to the vacation accrual table for the first time in over a decade, raising the number of vacation days that new employees are able to accrue, and ensuring that employees see increases in vacation accrual after their first four years of employment.

All new contract terms, including a $1,500 signing bonus, will go into effect on January 1, 2026. 

The CLA covers nearly all PROTEC17 members at the County, with the exception of Transit Admins, Chiefs, and Superintendents, who negotiate separately because they are eligible to use a process called interest arbitration. Transit Admins have since ratified their agreement. Transit Chiefs and Supervisors are pursuing the interest arbitration process – members should check their personal emails for the latest updates.

The CLA was bargained in person at the Teamsters Hall in Tukwila with over 100 union leaders and staff (pictured) in the room with King County management. The team was able to use an inclusive consensus process to make tough decisions about issues that impact our members at work every day. 

Thank you to all of the PROTEC17 members who served on the CLA bargaining team for a job well done