We are happy to announce that our 2023-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) have been approved by City Council!

We are awaiting final documentation from the City and will post here and to the Member Portal once received. Our new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBAs) will take effect soon. We will provide details to your personal email as soon as we have new information.

We are happy to announce that the Tentative Agreement (TA) for our 2023-2026 union contract has been overwhelmingly APPROVED by membership!

Thank you to everyone who voted. We know that this has been an incredibly challenging journey, but our collective action and solidarity is stronger. We are 3,000+ PROTEC17-represented union members, standing with our coalition union siblings of 6,000+ city workers — every single member played a crucial role in making this all possible!

The decision has been sent to Seattle City Council for final approval. Once approved, our new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will take effect. Please keep an eye on your personal email for updates–we will send out a communication as soon as we have new information.

After more than a year of negotiations with the City of Seattle, we have reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on our 2023-2026 contract with the City of Seattle!

It was our commitment to #RSPCT, along with the unwavering solidarity of our partners in the Coalition of City Unions (CCU), that got us to a deal that our bargaining team is very proud of!

Some highlights from our TA:

• 2023 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA): 5% (to be paid retroactively)
• 2024 COLA: 4.5%
• 2025 COLA: 100% of the CPI-W, with a min. of 2% and max. of 4%
• 2026 COLA: 1% + 100% of the CPI-W, min. of 2% and max of 4%
• Market wage adjustments for over 170 classifications
• Boot Allowance: $300 in 2023, $325 in 2024, $350 in 2025, $375 in 2025
• Shift differential pay: An additional $1.25/hour for swing shift, $1.75/hour for graveyard shift
• Overtime meal reimbursement increase
• Improved vacation accrual changes
• Improved bereavement/funeral leave changes
• Creation of a dependent care task force
• Improvements to the grievance process
• Improvements to contracting out language

Stay tuned for an email (in your personal email) after the holidays with a list of information sessions, TA details, and logistics for the voting process. As a reminder, if the contract is ratified by the membership, it will then need to go to Seattle City Council for final approval. If you have questions about the process or the TA, please reach out to a member of your bargaining team.

When we fight, WE WIN! ✊

On Feb. 6, 2023, Mayor Harrell announced that the vaccine mandate for City of Seattle employees would be lifted starting on Feb. 7, 2023. We are working with the City and our Coalition of City Unions (CCU) partners to address the potential impacts to City workers. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Union Representative.

As many of you already know, Mayor Harrell announced a two day per week in-office mandate for City employees, beginning in September 2022.

PROTEC17, along with three other city unions, sent the City a demand to bargain over the Mayor’s announcement. From the start of negotiations the City was unwavering in its position for the two day per week in office mandate beginning in September 2022. It was only through our member-led negotiations that we were able to win a delay in implementation, secure averages throughout the pay period, and protect members who have an accommodation. Most importantly, we were able to get the City to agree that a “one size fits all” approach does not meet the needs of every work unit and that exemption criteria is necessary.

Over the past four months, our union worked diligently with three other city unions, including member leaders from departments across the City, to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that contains the following changes:

• The Mayor’s two day in-office minimum will begin Nov. 1, 2022, rather than the original Sep. 2022 date announced by the Mayor.
• Departments may, at their discretion, temporarily delay this until Dec. 1, 2022.
• Clarification that an “in office” day will include field work, including but not limited to, inspections, public meetings, training, events, and work at City designated facilities, provided the employee is in paid status.
• The two day per week in office minimum may be based on an average within the pay period with management approval. 
• Members who are entitled to work remotely due to a reasonable accommodation will continue to have the opportunity to do so.
• Departments will have some discretion to exempt specific work units from the overall two day per week minimum if one or more of the following criteria are met:
  • There is a reason that is more than a “de minimis” (of little importance) cost savings to the City;
  • There is more than a “de minimis” (of little importance) improvement on retention and/or recruitment; or
  • There is more than a “de minimis” (of little importance) objectively measurable improvement to productivity and efficiency.

NOTE: Exemption determinations fall under management’s sole discretion and are not determined on an individual basis.
 
The entirety of the agreement can be read here.

If you have any questions, please join us at our next (virtual) chapter meeting on Thurs., Oct. 13, 2022, from 12 – 1 p.m. where we will discuss the MOU in further detail. Thank you to all PROTEC17 members who joined together to secure this agreement.