The Chehalis City Council unanimously approved two new collective bargaining agreements between the city, city employees and its police department at its regular meeting Monday night, brokered by Teamsters Union Local #252.
These new agreements went into effect on Jan. 1 and will last until Dec. 31, 2025. Chehalis HR Manager Glenn Schaffer broke down the details and major changes for the council.
Non-Commissioned and Court Employees CBA
The first agreement was for Chehalis Police Department non-commissioned employees and municipal court employees.
“The non-commissioned group is new for 2023, they had branched off of the Teamsters’ non-uniform group,” Schaffer said.
Negotiations between the city and union began back in August. Issues brought up included: wages, health care, management rights, pension contributions, scheduling, clothing, equipment and disciplinary actions.
As far as the new agreement goes, clarification was added to some legal terms, language and procedures.
The leave cap was changed as well. Schaffer stated the cap was now 17 hours of leave per month for an employee with 21 or more years of service. Prior to the new deal, it was 16 hours per month for an employee with 20 years of service.
Medical insurance premiums were also changed from a fixed rate to being percentage based. This year the premium will be 5%, then 5.5% in 2024 and 5.75% in 2025.
Wage increases are also coming for non-commissioned and court employees, starting at 7% this year.
“For 2024, the increase will be based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index), and that will be a range from between 3.5% up to a maximum of 5%, and the same percentage (increase) for 2025,” said Schaffer.
While the city’s recently-passed budget included a 4% salary and wage increase for all employees, the budget was being drafted while Teamsters negotiations were still ongoing. It was anticipated a budget amendment would be needed to account for the agreements once they were finalized.
“There will need to be a (budget) amendment in early 2023 to include additional costs associated with the contract,” Schaffer said.
Non-Uniformed Employees CBA
In the non-uniformed employees CBA for city workers including wastewater treatment specialists and traffic control technicians, many of the same legal terms, language and procedures were changed.
Schaffer explained some pay changes including increasing annual clothing allowance for certain positions from $235 to $300 per year, increasing standby duty pay from $2.25 to $2.75 per hour and increasing holiday pay to double time for hours after an employee’s normal working hours.
“Typically, standby pay is paid to public works employees who remain on-call for off-hour calls and incidents. So for example, on the weekends, there’s an on-call person that will respond to any incidents that come up,” said City Manager Jill Anderson.
Additionally, Schaffer stated out of class pay was raised to 15%, or 10% below the step “A” wage for a position being filled, whichever is higher. An employee works “out of class” when they are temporarily assigned to a position with a higher pay range for at least 39 consecutive working hours.
One other change clarified the usage and ownership of public works tools.
Mechanics are still responsible for supplying their own tools 1.25 inches or smaller, while the city will supply larger and specialty tools.
Medical insurance premiums and wage increases were also the same as in the non-commissioned collective bargaining agreement.
Both agreements can be viewed in the Chehalis City Council agenda packet available at https://www.ci.chehalis.wa.us/citycouncil/city-council-meeting-99.
