Washington Labor and Employment Blog
The latest case law and legal developments in Washington labor & employment law.
By Chris Casillas and Sarah E. Derry
In Lincoln County, PERC Unfair Labor Practice Manager Jessica Bradley dismissed a complaint, brought by Teamsters Local 690 on behalf of two unions, which challenged the County’s new open meetings rule. The policy applies Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act to collective bargaining negotiations between the County and public sector unions.
By: Sarah E. Derry, Chris Casillas
In Vashon Island Fire and Rescue, PERC Examiner Karyl Elinski found that the employer’s decision to end its participation in a program that kept injured workers on salary (“Kept on Salary”) rather than using workers’ compensation was not an unfair labor practice. The employer had adopted the program for only seven weeks before deciding to terminate the program.
By: Chris Casillas and Sarah E. Derry
In Skagit Regional Health, PERC Examiner Emily K. Whitney held that the employer, which operates a cancer care clinic in Mount Vernon, Washington, improperly circumvented the union when it met with employees to discuss changing their work hours, rather than bargaining the change through the union.
By: Chris Casillas and Sarah E. Derry
In Green River College, PERC Examiner Jamie Siegel held that the employer, Green River College, a college in Auburn, Washington, did not commit an unfair labor practice when it implemented a new “Program Prioritization Process” (PPP) without bargaining. Examiner Siegel determined that the new program was not a mandatory subject of bargaining, so the employer was not obligated to negotiate its decision prior to implementation.
By Chris Casillas and Sarah E. Derry
In City of Renton, PERC Examiner Coss dismissed the Renton Police Officers’ Guild’s Unfair Labor Practice complaint, which challenged the pay scheme for bicycle officers. The Examiner held that, contrary to the Guild’s allegations: (1) the City did not engage in direct dealing with Officers when it created a new payment method; (2) the Guild had actually agreed to end the alternate payment method and so the City did not unilaterally change the bike pay; and (3) the Guild’s complaint was barred by the statute of limitations.
By: Erica Shelley Nelson and Sarah Burke
In a precedent setting case, in Kitsap County v. Kitsap Cty. Corr. Officers’ Guild Inc., the Court of Appeals held that the County committed an unfair labor practice when it laid off two corrections officers without negotiations with the Kitsap County Corrections Guild. Facing the Guild’s demand to bargain, the County refused to bargain over the decision, asserting that the layoffs were not a mandatory subject of bargaining The Court held that negotiations must precede the lay off decision.
By: Jordan L. Jones
In King County (Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 587), PERC held that ATU Local 587 committed a ULP when it submitted a permissive subject of bargaining to interest arbitration. Examiner De La Rosa found that King County’s decision to move the Millwrights from the Vehicle Maintenance Section to the Power & Facilities Section was a managerial prerogative and therefore a permissive subject of bargaining.
By: Jordan L. Jones
In City of Walla Walla, PERC held that the Walla Walla Police Guild did not waive by inaction its right to bargain a department policy change.
By: Christopher J. Casillas & Jordan L. Jones
In Central 
Washington University, the Commission concluded that the existing standard for determining whether an employer had a duty to bargain a decision to contract out bargaining unit work was confusing and adopted a new standard. The Commission also affirmed the Examiner’s decision that (1) the employer contracted out bargaining unit work and (2) that the employer failed to provide requested information. The Commission reversed the Examiner’s decision and found that the employer circumvented the union and modified the remedy to include a monetary remedy for the employer’s failure to bargain the decision to contract out bargaining unit work.
By: Christopher J. Casillas & Jordan L. Jones
In State – Washington State Patrol, Examiner Page A. Garcia held that the State failed to provide relevant information regarding documents and communication between the State and a consultant concerning a compensation survey, which was requested by the Union for contract negotiations. PERC further held that by the State’s refusal to make individuals from the consultant’s firm available to the Union or, in the alternative, provide the Union the information it was seeking from the consultant regarding the compensation survey, the employer breached its good faith bargaining obligations.
