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Contact Local 17 Representative Jacob Metgzer

Policy Committee Meeting Minutes - January 16, 2008
Next meeting, Thursday, February 28^th.

Attending: Jan O’Hara, Tom Moran, Hossein Barahimi, Lois Watt, Bernie Thompson, John Shively, Jon Bez, Julie Paone, AnneMarie Jehle, Ref Lindmark, Gunnar Goerlitz, Jay Osborne, Mike Boonsripisal, Cliff Chase, Steve Coffing, Mark Dalton

Jon announced he is a newly appointed supervisor and this is his last meeting with our bargaining unit. We will deal with succession later in the meeting.

Seniority Committee: We will ask management for an updated list of members in late February and update our own list at that time. This is a twice yearly event.

Governance: Non Interest Elections. There are no contested positions and some potential new interest. This group will have a lunch meeting to finalize the election of PC members (they are a small group and have done this in the past). An “outsider” (someone not in bargaining unit) will be asked to validate the election by attending. Date to be set by group and all employees notified.

Stewards: No report

Communications – Draft booklet is available and comments are due Feb 15^th.

Concerns of Membership: VSP (Vision Service Plan). Members are commenting the benefit has not increased in years and doctors are opting out of program. Jacob to pass this information on to JLMIC representatives.

King Street Building sale. There are concerns about moves. No real hard information available.

TLT’s (Term Limited Temps) A brief discussion was held on the topic of “Should we discuss, as a Policy Committee, the possibility of bringing TLT’s into our bargaining unit?” It was concluded that it should be discussed and we should hold a brown bag or two on the topic. We need to identify 1) Key Issues 2) Interests of TLT’s vs Regular employees – where do they coincide and conflict 3) Would TLT’s like to join? 4) How would King County feel? 5) What are necessary steps to take if we go down this path? Brown bags will be set up.

Contract topics: A brown bag will be set up to discuss how to go about getting good membership input into topics for next contract negotiations for Interest Arb group. Contract expires June 30, 2009.

It was moved that we give Jon Bez a big YAHOO! for his service as our chair. The motion passed unanimously.

Jay Osborne is the Vice Chair and will handle the next meeting. We will handle chair elections and committee assignments then. This will be after non-interest arb group elects new PC members.

Jacob report: New Labor Relations Director at King County. We are hopeful. Name is Elizabeth Ford.

Next meeting, Thursday, February 28.

Prof-Tech Policy Committee Meeting Minutes

12-4-07

Attending: Cliff Chase, AnneMarie Jehle, Ref Lindmark, Jim Arrowsmith, Steve Coffing, Lois Watt, Tom Moran, Jon Bez, John Shively (shared), Sue Osterhoudt, Mark Walsh (shared) (quorum of 10 required and met)

Jacob Metzger, Local 17 Rep. Guest, Jan O'Hara.

1. Committees: Governance

Non-Interest Arb elections need to take place. Candidates are to declare by 12-14-07. If already on the PC, we assume you are running unless you say otherwise. Sue O is retiring and will not be running. Election will be held in January.

Sales and Customer Services has a vacancy as Tim Apicella has left the County. We had two individuals offer to serve. Jan O'Hara and Theresa Huey. Jan OÕHara is in attendance at this meeting. It was moved, seconded and approved by the PC that Jan O'Hara fill the Sales and Customer Services vacancy. Welcome Jan!

2. Seniority/Membership committee:

With Tim A's leaving, this committee needs a new chair. Tom Moran volunteered and was voted into the position.

3. Communications: Anna/Cliff

With the holidays, things are at a bit of a lull. A draft of the handbook for the Interest-Arb group will be circulated after the first of the year.

4. Shop Stewards: Jerry H. No report

5. Jacob report:

No movement on the County policy of having access to external e-mail.

Next contract planning needs to occur. AnneMarie wants to get some structure to process. Steve Coffing will assist. Both will work with Jacob to develop a process to help engage members. John Shively will be working with them on the non-interest arb side for their contract that comes due next year.

6. The following meeting dates were established for 2008 (pending confirmation that the room is available)

January 16 (Wednesday)

February 28 (Thursday)

April 9 (Wednesday)

May 22 (Thursday)

June 26 (Thursday)

September 9 (Tuesday)

October 22 (Wednesday)

December 4 (Thursday)

Policy Committee Minutes
10-25-07

Attending: Cliff Chase, Jerry Hunnicutt, AnneMarie Jehle, Jim Arrowsmith, Gunnar Goerlitz, Steve Coffing, Tim Apicella, Lois Watt, Tom Moran, Jonathon Bez, Hossein Barahimi (shared Position), John Shively (shared position), Anna Peekstok, Rey Sugui. A quorum of 13 positions was present.

Meeting was called to order by Chairman, Jon Bez.

Governance: Non Interest Arb elections are needed as contract expires next year. Sue Osterhout will be retiring and a new PC member will need to be recruited. Jacob/John Shively to get current updated member lists from management to review.

Seniority list for Interest Arb. Was reviewed and approved by the policy committee. It will be posted. Communications: The committee is using the Non-interest Arb book as a template for the Interest Arb booklet. They will get it out to review soon.

Stewards: Work remains on getting the steward list updated. Jacob and committee will continue work.

Meeting Logistics: A brief discussion of the meeting start time was held. It was decided to start future meetings at 5:30 to accommodate people with a 5:00 end time. We will still plan to end the meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Jacob report: Discussion of e-mail policy (accessing personal e-mail accounts at work) was held. The policy discussion has gone nowhere. Labor relations with KC are at a standstill. (This is for all unions, not just Local 17) There have been rumors of a hiring freeze or layoffs. Jacob will follow-up. Rumors of King Street Center being sold to Microsoft and employees being moved to Renton. Jacob will follow-up.

It was announced that Tim Apicella was leaving King County November 9th. A motion to commend him for his service to the Policy Committee was made and passed unanimously.

The last meeting of the year is scheduled for December 4th.

The meeting adjourned.

Next meeting: Tuesday, December 4th @ 5:30pm

Policy Committee Minutes
9-5-07

Attending: Jon Bez, Steve Coffing, Jim Arrowsmith, Julie Paone, Anna Peekstok, Cliff Chase, Tom Moran, Mark Dalton, Hossein Barahimi, Mike Boonsipisal, John Shively, Gunnar Goerlitz, Peggy Harris, Anne Marie Jehle, Lois Watt, Sean Leonard, L-17 rep, Jacob Metzger, L-17 rep. Clare Cronin, visitor.

Introductions were made. This will be Sean's last meeting with us. He is off to Law School. Jacob Metzger will be our new rep until Whitney returns after the first of the year.
Committees:

Governance: Non-Interest Arb group needs to hold elections as their contract is up next year.
Seniority/Membership: List on Web to be updated this month. We will request current list from Management. If you know of new people in your area, please send the information to Lois Watt.

Communications: Interest Arb group Working on New Membership brochure, using the Non-Interest Arb model. It was suggested that we have a section in the brochure describing the process for becoming a member (forms, etc). They have reviewed the web site and will be making suggestions to Taryn to make it more readable from a presentation standpoint.

Public Disclosure Request by Seattle Times.
Local 17 has joined several other unions in seeking an injunction against the times in order to prevent them obtaining birthdate information on County employees. A temporary order has been issued and the court will hear arguments. We do not expect to win as the City of Seattle faced the same battle with KIRO last year. However L-17 wants to show solidarity with the other unions and raise awareness with our members so that we all go to our legislators and encourage them to change the disclosure law to protect public employee privacy.

Implementation of On-call Pay:
This has occurred and the Rideshare representatives have received back pay for time since the contract effective date.

Clarifying PIP's, Flexible work schedules and the meeting of the Labor/Management Committee:
A healthy discussion occurred. We encouraged management to use the already in place performance appraisal process rather than creating something to replace PIP's (their "PAP"). We discussed Flexible work schedules, alternative work schedules, etc. Management committed to educate managers and supervisors on the "how to's" and remind them that this is something that KC supports and encourages employees to do when it makes good business sense. IT reports the meeting has already had an impact in that flexible schedules that were taken away have been returned.

Misc:
It was reported that there is a discussion of TP II's becoming Non-exempt in FSLA status. Sean reviewed the legal requirements of FSLA status and that we can only bargain impacts if status changes.

VM salary ranges have been implemented and layoff groups agreed to. VM folks with new classifications expect retro pay with 9-20-07 check. There is also a new classification in our bargaining unit – Administrator II – which will be working in the Warranty area of VM. MOU signed regarding these items.

A MOU has been signed regarding Executive Leave for new exempt employees, prorating the amount depending on when they are hired during the year.

There is still no final agreement on the IT Policy being bargained in coalition of unions. It is expected that the new policy will allow, but not recommend, employees to access personal e-mail on KC equipment.

Next Contract Planning:
We agreed we should continually be looking at wages and document comparables we are aware of that can be used in the future. We need to keep a list of issues. Anne Marie agreed to be the point person. Clare Cronin requested we do more on the web which would allow members to interact with the Policy Committee and decisions of the PC.
King County Chapter:

Sean reported that KC chapter has the following positions open for election this year: Chapter President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer. There are also 15 or 16 REC (Regional Executive Committee) positions open and 4 alternates. This is the legislative body of the Local and your participation is encouraged. The local will post this information and it will be in the next issue of Insight.

Negotiations Training:

There is a training session on October 6th. Anyone interested is encouraged to sign up. There will be a steward training in November in Tacoma.

Next meeting:

Thursday, October 25th. The last of the year, December 4th.

Attending: Cliff Chase, AnneMarie Jehle, Ref Lindmark, Jim Arrowsmith, Mike Boonsripisal, Tim Apicella, Lois Watt, Tom Moran, Jon Bez, Hossein Barahimi, Sue Osterhoudt, Anna Peekstock, Jay Osborne, Ray Sugui. Sean Leonard, Union Rep. (14 positions represented, quorum present)

1. Sean Report:

Union Coalition Bargaining. Personnel Guidelines are still being negotiated. We continue to be under the October 2000 guidelines as the new ones have not been accepted. Final work remains on the IT acceptable use policy. Local 17 has asked why the personal e-mail policy in transit was changed without bargaining.

KC is working on selling the KC International Airport right of way for trails. Bargaining on this continues in closed rooms and without Union input. If this occurs, there are employees that will no longer be County employees – they will essentially be laid off. One affected employee is in our Roads group.

There is much discussion in the County regarding flexible and alternative work schedules, including our grievance in the Transit LAN area. A new form has been circulating that limits the types of schedule that can be identified (e.g. no “full flex” schedule option). Anyone who has had issues with the form or their schedules please let Sean know.

Healthcare: Sean appreciates all the information he has been receiving from members regarding healthcare and prescription coverage issues. These have been forwarded to our JLMIC rep. However, management has cancelled the next 3 JLMIC meetings and so these concerns are not being addressed immediately.

Elections:

It was determined a quorum was present. Jon explained that the Chair is mainly a conduit for communications and organization of the Policy Committee and that it has worked well in the past for the Chair to be from one bargaining unit and the Backup Chair to be from one of the other units.

Jon Bez was nominated to be Chair. Motion was seconded and the vote was unanimous.

Jay Osborne was nominated to be Backup Chair. Motion was seconded and the vote was unanimous.

Lois Watt volunteered to be note taker. A positive vote confirmed her selection. AnneMarie Jehle volunteered to be back up note taker. She was also confirmed by vote.

Committees:

Shop Steward. Sean requested assistance in confirming our Shop Steward process. Jerry Hunnicutt, the chair of the Shop Steward committee will be asked to confirm if current stewards want to continue and assist Sean in getting signed agreements. We have two members who have taken training and wish to be stewards. The Union will get all the signed agreements and then update our submitted list to management.

Seniority and Membership committees were combined, as their purposes have merged over the years. Lois Watt, Tim Apicella and Jon Bez are “keepers of the list” for the Interest Arb group. John Shively will assist in keeping the Non-Interest Arb list.

Tim asked the status of our grievance regarding management not properly notifying us of new members. This can result in a member being responsible for many months of back dues, at no fault of their own. Sean is not aware of the grievance. Whitney was working the issue before her leave. Sean will check into it.

Chair of Governance is Lois Watt.

Communications committee: Discussion took place regarding need for a communication strategy and need to update information on our piece of the Local 17 web site. Cliff Chase and Anna Peekstok were selected to co-chair this committee because of their expertise in communications. At our next evening meeting we will discuss this further.

Other matters:

The Bargaining Team has decided to accept management’s proposal regarding pay ranges for two new job descriptions in Vehicle Management. They will propose layoff classifications.

Jay Osborne announced that the classification of “TLT” is going away and we will have seasonal workers. There was a question as to how this works with the Gossett ordinance. We will try to clarify.

Next meeting: June 26, 5:15 p.m. @ the L-17 office in Eastlake.

Minutes of

Policy Committee - April 24, 2007

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Ref Lindmark, Mike Boonripisal, Jonathon Bez, Gunnar Goerlitz, Jerry Hunnicutt, Hossein Barahimi, John Shively, Marc Walsh, Jay Osborne, Bernie Thompson, Tom Moran, Anna Peekstok, Lois Watt, and Sean Leonard (Local 17 Rep).

The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:05 pm.

Introductions and Purpose

The Policy Committee welcomed several new members to the group. The purpose of the meeting was to provide newer members to the Policy Committee with a sense of our place in the Union community and to share information on our purpose and how we conduct our meetings.

Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Update

The contract is going before the Government and Labor Relation Committee today (it was given a “do pass” recommendation by unanimous vote 3-0. Councilmembers Gossett, Von Reichbauer and Phillips sit on this committee).

Committee Reports

Communications Committee. No report.

Steward Committee. No report.

Membership Committee. See Seniority Committee.

Seniority Committee. With a quorum present the Seniority list, with dates, for the Interest Arb group was approved by the committee and will now be placed on the web. It will be updated periodically with new hires, transfers, resignations, etc.

Governance Committee. The Policy Committee distributed the latest iteration of the Governance Committee Policies found here.

Next Evening Meeting Reminder

The next meeting will be May 24th, 12:00 noon, King Street Center and will be for the specific purpose of electing leadership and establishing committee memberships. The meeting of May 3rd has been cancelled.

Meetings Scheduled for 2007

Thursday, May 3 (Cancelled)

Thursday, May 24^th (Noon @ King Street Center Conference Room 3D/E)

Tuesday, June 26 (5:15pm @ Eastlake Union offices)

Wednesday, September 5 (5:15pm @ Eastlake Union offices)

Thursday, October 25 (5:15pm @ Eastlake Union offices)

Tuesday, December 4 (5:15pm @ Eastlake Union offices)

The Local 17 office is located at 2900 Eastlake Ave. (the route 70 is your best bus route there).

Minutes of Policy Committee Meeting April 4, 2007

Attending: Jon Bez, Sue Osterhoudt, Mark Walsh, Ray Sugi, Anna Peakstock, Jim Arrowsmith, Tim Apicella, Lois Watt, Gunnar Goerlitz, Jerry Hunnicutt, Bernie, Jay Osborne.

Contract Passage- This is first PC meeting since passage of contract by 71%. The contract has been signed by the negotiating team and has gone to the King County Executive’s office for presentation to the Council, hopefully, in April. The Vehicle Maintenance group going through the reclassification study have gone from 3 job descriptions for 8 people to two completely new job descriptions. These job descriptions have no same title/description anywhere else in the County. The County is preparing a proposal for wages for these new classifications. If the proposal is not satisfactory, there may need to be wage study research.

MOA Regarding Past Practice. We have a signed MOA acknowledging that past practice may be used in grievances and up through arbitration as part of an argument regarding contract violations.

Seniority List. Research is nearly complete. We have gone from 16 people with issues to 4. A few were just resolved in the last few days and the individuals have not been notified yet. We should have a list at the next PC for the committee to confirm.

Shop Steward Training. Two members of the bargaining unit took the recent shop steward training. The Policy Committee reaffirmed that it is the prerogative of the Union Representative to appoint Stewards. The PC does not make the appointments. Taking the training does not automatically make someone a steward. Jerry Hunnicutt volunteered to take the position of Shop Steward Chairman and to work with Sean to confirm our Steward list is current. His offer was accepted by unanimous vote of the PC. Sean will have all Stewards sign the Steward pledge for representation. The PC confirmed the wording of Steward responsibilities in the PC Policies by unanimous vote. The policy appears on the web page.

No Communication report.

Governance. A request was made by a member to extend the nomination period for PC members by 1 week. Discussion was held. It was noted that nominations were open for 6 weeks and there are 18 candidates for 16 positions. The request came after the original period closed. A motion to extend the period failed.

Scheduling issues caused the PC to set the next meeting to be a lunch meeting at King Street Center for the new PC. It will be a “PC 101” on who we are, where we are in the union organization, how we run ourselves and our function. The meeting after that will establish Committee assignments. The date for this meeting will be set at the lunch meeting. The May 3^rd meeting was cancelled. A scheduling discussion followed with the following conclusions:

The PC election will be open by mail until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 19^th.

Wednesday, April 18^th, Sean will be available at the following locations and times for in person balloting:

10:00-11:00 King Street Center

11:30-12:30 Yesler Building

1:00 – 2:00 Exchange Building

Ballots will be sent to each member at their address on file with Local 17 very soon. Members will be able to ballot in person or by mail. Each ballot will be by section and will be a different color. The Election Rules will appear on each ballot. Write-in candidates are accepted. Ballots will be counted and results announced on April 20^th.

The PC lunch meeting will be Tuesday, April 24^th at King Street Center.

A motion to approve the rules and procedures and these dates was passed by the PC.

Sean’s Report: The Leadership Conference is April 21^st. Flyers were passed out. Everyone is encouraged to register and attend.

Roads - Jay and Sean and L-17 Communications Director Taryn are working on a Contract Guide for new members. A draft was handed out.

Several members have experienced difficulties with the new mail prescription service, Express Scripts. Please encourage members to share the stories with Sean so they can be sent with our representative to the Joint Labor Management Insurance Committee and can be addressed by the coalition of unions.

Transit has a list of people whose personnel files have gone “missing” in the many moves and life of transit. We are attempting to get this list. Members are encouraged to request a look at their files to see what they contain.

There is word that DNRP (none of our members) are having some challenges regarding obtaining and using Executive Leave. If any of our members are having issues, please let Sean know.

Meetings Scheduled for 2007

Thursday, May 3

Tuesday, June 26

Wednesday, September 5

Thursday, October 25

Tuesday, December 4

All meetings are held at the Local 17 office at 2900 Eastlake Avenue and begin at 5:15 p.m.

Local 17 Policy

Committee Meeting Minutes

February 20, 2007

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Christine Anderson, Tim Apicella, Chris Arnbrister, Jim Arrosmith, Jonathon Bez, Steve Coffing, Gunnar Goerlitz, Peggy Harris, Jerry Hunnicutt, Anne Marie Jehle, Anna Peekstok, Lois Watt, and Sean Leonard (Local 17 Rep).

The meeting was called to order at approximately 5:20 pm.

Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Update

The contract votes were tabulated at 1:30pm in the afternoon. A total of 136 ballots were cast for a response rate of 55%. Vote tally was 97 yes votes (71.3%) and 39 no votes (28.7%).

Committee Reports

Communications Committee. Steve Coffing said there was nothing to report.

Seniority Committee. Tim Apicella asked about the process to finalize start dates. Lois Watt reported that there were 16 members who asked to have their start dates checked. Most of the checks should be simple to research, three were going to require more time. Lois said that Delanie Peterson of Transit HR had been providing information, however, Delanie was on vacation. Lois also said the Delanie indicated that someone else from Transit HR would take over on the project. Lois was waiting to find out who that would be.

Steward Committee. Sean Leonard announced that there will be a training session for stewards on Saturday, March 24, at the Local 17 office. All Policy Committee members who have not received the training are encouraged to attend. Tim Apicella asked if it was a requirement for stewards to be on the Policy Committee. He knows a member who was interested in becoming a steward. There was some discussion about whether stewards must be on the Policy Committee. A motion was made that stated that if a member was interested in becoming a steward, it would be OK for the member to take the training and act as a steward, however, he or she must agree to report their activities to both the Steward Committee chair and the Local 17 Rep. At the time of the motion, there was not a quorum. The motion was tabled.

Membership Committee. No report.

Governance Committee. Lois Watt reported that with the passage of the Transit contract, elections for new transit members of the Policy Committee need to be held soon as current terms for those representatives have expired. There will be 15 open positions. The current Policy Committee needs to take three actions at this time:

Notify members of the upcoming election.

Establish a timeline for the election.

Determine how to conduct the election.

After some discussion it was decided that a communication piece would be sent to members’ home addresses that includes information on the contract ratification results and a description of the nomination process for the section and at-large positions.

It was also determined that Lois would set up a Google Group for member communications. The Group would allow members to post comments and communicate outside of the King County email system. The Group would consist only of non-Metro emails. The Policy Committee Chair and the Membership Committee chair will manage the Group.

A timeline for the election was established. Nominations will be due by March 31. Members who want to run for a position should contact Sean at the Local 17 office. Members should indicate which position they are running (a Section or At-Large) and whether they are running alone or sharing the position with someone. Write-ins will be allowed on the ballot. Elections will be held at various locations in early April.

Steward Training

At this point in the meeting, a quorum was established and the earlier motion on steward training was brought up and seconded. The motion passed, 11 – 0. It was mentioned that the Union has ultimate authority as to who can be a steward and that all stewards must sign a form acknowledging their understanding of their duties.

Sean’s Report

Sean reported that Whitney had a baby girl on Sunday, February 18.

There are several items in coalition with other unions that are still being bargained, including the Personnel Guidelines, IT, and the Personnel Management Plan.

Sean asked for membership support on the public health funding measure currently before the state legislature.

Lois reported that the Regional Executive Committee will be meeting on March 3rd and the annual Leadership Conference is scheduled for April 21.

Wages

Tim Apicella asked that the Policy Committee be pro-active on conducting a wage study for the next contract. Members agreed that the study would require a lot of time and effort and should be started as soon as possible. Sean said that Local 17 would do the research for the study.

Seniority Date Clarification Issue

Jon Bez said that once all the seniority start dates are confirmed, the Policy Committee will need to affirm the list. There was a discussion about the process and the involvement of the Seniority Committee. It was decided that the process would be as follows:

Lois will work with Transit HR to get all the data to establish the 16 start dates that are in question.

The Seniority Committee will look at the data and investigate any challenges.

The Seniority Committee will then make a recommendation to the Policy Committee.

The Policy Committee will vote on the final list.

Tim will schedule a Seniority Committee meeting. Jon will schedule a Policy Committee lunch meeting for mid- to late March. A quorum will be needed for the vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:29pm.

Next Evening Meeting Reminder

The next evening meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 5:15pm at the Local 17 office at 2900 Eastlake Avenue.

Meetings Scheduled for 2007

Tuesday, April 3

Thursday, May 3

Tuesday, June 26

Wednesday, September 5

Thursday, October 25

Tuesday, December 4

All meetings are held at the Local 17 office at 2900 Eastlake Avenue and begin at 5:15 p.m.

Local 17 Policy Committee Meeting Minutes

November 1, 2006

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Christine Anderson, Tim Apicella, Chris Arnbrister, Jim Arrowsmith, Jonathon Bez, Mark Dalton, Gunnar Goerlitz, Anne Marie Jehle, Jay Osborne, John Shively, Lois Watt, and Whitney Hupf (Local 17 Rep).

The meeting was called to order at 5:17 pm by chair, Jonathon Bez.

Introduction

Whitney introduced Sean Leonard, who will be filling in for her while she goes on maternity leave early next year. Sean will be attending Policy Committee meetings as well as contract negotiation meetings over the next few months so that he can become more familiar with the bargaining unit’s members and issues.

Subcommittee Reports

Communications Subcommittee. No report.

Shop Stewards Subcommittee. Christine Anderson reported that the list of shop stewards posted on the web site needs to be updated. Whitney said that Anne Marie Jehle attended the Shop Steward training in October and her name needs to be added to the list. Christine will work with Taryn to have the revisions made.

Membership Subcommittee. John Shively reported that the Transit membership list looks pretty good at this point. Whitney talked about a pending grievance over membership dues. The County failed to notify Local 17 about a new member in a timely manner and the member was issued an invoice for back dues. After determining that the member had followed proper procedure, Local 17 agreed not to charge the back dues; however, a grievance has been filed against the County for failure to provide updated union membership information about new employees to the union.

Governance Subcommittee. Jon noted that no one had yet volunteered to replace Gunbjorg as the chair of the Governance Committee and that with elections coming up, it was critical that the position be filled. Lois Watt volunteered to chair the committee. Current members are Jon Bez, John Shively, and Rey Sugui.

Seniority Subcommittee. Tim Apicella started his report by thanking Lois for all her hard work in getting an updated list of start dates for all members of the Transit bargaining unit. Once the list is finalized, a draft list will be sent to the membership for review. Next steps include resolving outstanding start date issues and continuing negotiations with management on Reduction in Force and Seniority issues as part of the current contract negotiations.

Interest Arb Contract Negotiations Update

Christine Anderson reported that contracts negotiations were continuing. The remaining issues involve reduction in force/seniority and the pay equity issue for several classifications in Vehicle Maintenance. The negotiation team will send out an updated communication piece to all members soon. (Now Available, Click Here!)

Tentative agreement had been reached on the following:

Members who leave employment will get their vacation cashed out at the current rate of pay (i.e., acting pay level) if they are in an acting position at the time of their resignation and were in the position for at least the previous three months.
Vacation cashout—a “re-opener” was added to the language that stipulates that if County allows a cashout for vacation pay, either through an agreement with another union or by a change in County policy, then the issue will be back on the table.
Performance Improvement Plans have been dropped from the Performance Appraisal section.
Employees who promote to a new position and who do not pass probation will be able to go back to their old position if it’s still vacant. If the position is not available, they will have layoff rights.
If a bargaining unit member has their probation extended due to a change in supervisor, once he or she passes probation, the member will receive their step increase retroactive to the date when the probation period should have originally ended.
Hourly employees who are required to carry a pager or other notification device for after hours calls will receive $1.00 per hour for on-call duty for hours on call.

At this time, it looks like it will be after the first of year before the contract will be finalized, ratified by the membership, and approved by the County Council. The question was raised as to how the delay affects the current term of the Policy Committee members. The governance rules will be checked to see if this question is addressed.

Whitney Report

Layoffs. At the request of Local 17, a posting for a position in Sales & Customer Service will be re-opened to allow layoff candidates the ability to apply the position. The posting originally closed on 10/2/06, just a few weeks before employees were notified of their pending layoff.

Potential for new members. The Executive’s proposal to give the King County International Airport to the Port of Seattle in exchange for railway right-of-way would offer Local 17 the opportunity to organize more members.

Proposed IT Computer Use Policy. Local 17 is looking into the County’s proposed IT policy changes that would limit access to personal email accounts from work. This policy was implemented within the Transit Division about a year ago. Management is concerned that such access makes County systems vulnerable to viruses, however, Local 17 believes that such use is similar to the policy regarding telephone use for personal reasons.

Personnel Guidelines. One item is left to be negotiated before the updated Personnel Guidelines are finalized. The remaining issue concerns lateral transfers. Management wants to allow for a probationary period when employees make a lateral transfer. The union wants to exempt such employees from a probationary period.

Performance Appraisals. There has been some discussion about requiring all County employees to participate in the performance appraisal process. The unions oppose this idea since this would be very difficult to implement in some cases (e.g., transit operators).

2007 COLA. COLA will be 2.0% for 2007. If the transit bargaining unit contract isn’t finalized by the end of the year, members will receive their COLA retroactively.

Whitney’s Status. Whitney will be going on maternity in late January/early February. Her current plan is to take a year off.

Non-interest Arb Contract

Jay Osborne reported that there has been some confusion among members with their seniority dates since some dates don’t match what’s on the list in the contract. Jay will work with Sean to create a communication piece to clarify this and other concerns.

Policy Committee Vacancies

Fred Moody will soon be leaving the County. At this time, one person is interested in taking over Fred’s position. If the person wants to take over the position, the Committee will need to vote on the new member at the next meeting when there is a quorum.

Light Rail – Supervisors & Chiefs

Whitney reported that there is potentially an unfair labor practice in how management set pay ranges for supervisors and chiefs in the light rail section.

Next Meeting Reminder

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 5:15 pm at the Local 17 office on Eastlake Avenue.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:33pm.

Sept. 19, 2006

In attendance: Christine Anderson, Jim Arrowsmith, Steve Coffing, Mark Dalton, Gunnar Goerlitz, Peggy Harris, Jerry Hunnicutt, Lois Watt, Jay Osborne, Sue Osterhoudt, John Shively, Rebecca Switaj, Jonathon Bez, Whitney Hupf

VEBA Vote

Passed in all Bargaining units except for 1, which was a tie. L17 will be posting results, as will King County. (Click here to see VEBA results)

Whitney Report

Healthy Incentives: Most appeals of level assignment have been resolved. Generally speaking, appeals have been awarded with Gold level. Only 3 appeals remain to be resolved out of an original 650 appeals.

Whitney attended JLMIC meeting at which the county continued to pitch amendments to the health care plan. We are inclined to stick to the current agreement. They especially emphasized the value of generic prescription drugs.

From Laird Cusack – The County has indicated that a list of possibly 28 people currently in Transit IT positions will need to fill out a PDQ to determine if they are really IT workers. Whitney has asked to be informed of this list prior to Transit actually distributing this request for people to fill out PDQs, more to come!

Contract Negotiations, Transit/Interest Arb.

Negotiations are nearing completion. There are a handful of issues left.

Reduction In Force - the team believes that the County has generally understood the team’s argument for larger layoff groups and negotiations are moving in a positive direction on that front.
Vacation cashout looks to be a pretty tough fight; unfortunately higher level County politics seem to be the obstacle.
There is movement on doing away with Performance Improvement Plans.
Looks good for on call pay for hourly employees (especially important to some in Rideshare Operations).
Basic license/certifications costs will be covered by County: CDL, CPR/First Aid Instructor

The Brown bag lunches mostly went well became less contentious over time.

When the contract comes up for a vote, we need make a strong effort to communicate all the changes.

The negotiation team is beginning to work on the Seniority list and clarifying unit start dates with our members. Providing access to the Seniority List will be a key part of sharing the newly negotiated contract with the members.

Membership Committee

Still trying to get consistent data; would like to find a 3^rd source. What does the Policy Committee want, after the membership list is completed? How often to update, what type of data on list, etc.

Governance Committee – needs a chair!

Elections for Transit positions are planned for year’s end/after contract negotiations are complete.

Fred Moody is leaving and we will need a replacement representative for the Non-Interest Arb, Planning unit.

Should we move Steve Coffing to IT? Christine Anderson made a motion to do so, someone seconded, vote carried. Steve Coffing now represents Transit IT (filling Susan Weisberg’s position).

Shop Steward Committee

Christine Anderson is now Shop Steward Chair. Someone suggested that we get an updated record of who the shop stewards are, and which sections they represent.

Meeting adjourned @ about 6:45

Local 17 Professional and Technical Bargaining Units
Policy Committee Minutes

July 27, 2006

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Christine Anderson, Tim Apicella, Chris Arnbrister, Jim Arrowsmith, Jonathon Bez, Steve Coffing, Mark Dalton, Gunnar Goerlitz, Peggy Harris, Jay Osborne, John Shively, Rebecca Switaj, Lois Watt, and Whitney Hupf (Local 17 Rep).

The meeting was called to order at 12:07 pm by chair, Jonathon Bez.

VEBA Update

Local 17 has created some informational handouts concerning VEBA. Jon Bez forwarded them to Policy Committee members and asked that they send them on to members in the sections that they represent. Committee members were asked to encourage members to attend the scheduled presentations or to read the information available through the county Focus on Employees web site at: http://www.metrokc.gov/employees/benefits/hraveba/default.aspx

VEBA ballots will be mailed out to members’ home addresses within a week or two. Everyone in the bargaining unit will be eligible to vote and the vote will be binding for all members who retire in the years 2007 – 2009. Local 17 must respond to the County by September 18 on whether the bargaining unit will participate in VEBA.

There was a question as to whether the VEBA vote will change the language in the current contract regarding sick leave cash out. Whitney said that if the bargaining unit votes to participate in VEBA that Local 17 would have a Memorandum of Understanding with the County that states that if VEBA should go away for any reason that we would revert back to existing sick leave cash out language in the contract.

Jon asked that committee members be sure to forward the email from Whitney to members and to encourage them to attend the presentations. No union meetings are planned for further discussion on this topic.

A motion was made for the Policy Committee to endorse passing the VEBA sick leave cash out option. The motion was seconded and passed (11 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention). Jon said he would send out an email stating that the Policy Committee voted to support a sick-leave cashout to VEBA for ’07-’09 retirees.

Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Negotiation—Communication with Members

Whitney proposed that lunch time “brown bag” meetings be scheduled to meet with members to keep them informed on contract negotiation issues. She also proposed that a newsletter be sent out to members, which would outline the various issues being discussed. The negotiating team members indicated that they would help in writing a newsletter and in planning outreach meetings for members. Jon also suggested the idea of combining VEBA outreach into this effort and that we might tie VEBA voting into the outreach meetings.

Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Negotiations

The negotiating team provided a brief update on negotiations to date. Management and the Local 17 team are starting to discuss “what if” ideas that could lead to formal proposals on the remaining more contentious issues. The next bargaining session is scheduled for August 21. Another 3 day long negotiation sessions have been scheduled following the 21^st with some hope that negotiations might be completed by the end of September.

Of interest at this time is the bargaining unit’s proposal for vacation cash out in light of the Exec’s new policy that allows for up to 40 hours of vacation time to be donated to a charity of the employee’s choosing. This new policy indicates that Payroll is set up administratively to allow for vacation cash out removing one of the barriers to getting this change added to the new contract.

Next Meeting Reminder

The next meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 5:15pm at the Local 17 office on Eastlake Avenue. It is possible the Policy Committee will meet again for a lunch time meeting in August… Stay Tuned! Jon will send out an announcement if a meeting seems necessary.

Meetings Schedule for 2006

August – NO MEETING

September 19 – Tuesday

November 1 – Wednesday

December 14 – Thursday

Local 17 Professional and Technical Bargaining Units
Policy Committee Minutes

June 29, 2006

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Christine Anderson, Tim Apicella, Chris Arnbrister, Jonathon Bez, Gunnar Goerlitz, Jerry Hunnicutt, Jay Osborne, Sue Stewart, Rebecca Switaj, Lois Watt, and Whitney Hupf (Local 17 Rep).

Others in Attendance: Clare Cronin, Julie Burrell, Lorraine Desrochers, Jane Finch, and Jim Greenwald.

The meeting was called to order at 5:29 pm by chair, Jonathon Bez.

Non-Interest Arb (Roads) Contract Update

Whitney reported that the Roads contract had been signed by the Council. The new pay rate would go into effect in nine weeks and retroactive paychecks should arrive in about twelve weeks.

Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Negotiations

Whitney reported that contract negotiations have been civil to date. The County has been working to standardize a number of items and will use Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) for some of the agreements rather than make major changes to the contract. An example of one such item is “past practice” language. Management wants to put this language in a separate MOA. Local 17 is OK with this idea since it accomplishes the same thing.

Whitney noted that management and the bargaining unit had reached “tentative agreement” (TA) on a couple of items to date. These items deal with language clarifications or with updating language to reflect changes in law. The big issues are still being worked through.

It was also reported that the Supervisors and Chiefs contract was still in negotation and that vacation cashout was still on the table. The negotiation team is watching

their situation closely since it will impact how we negotiate.

The third and final meeting to introduce new proposals was held on Monday, June 26. From that point forward, no new topics can be introduced.

Highlights of proposed items include:

Promotions – If a bargaining unit member is promoted and does not pass probation, the team has proposed that the bargaining unit member be allowed to take a vacant position in the same classification rather than lose his or her job completely.

Grievance Dispute Resolution Process – The team has asked for a longer period of time to resolve disputes. The current contract allows for ten days, which is not enough time.

Required licenses and exams – It has been proposed that the County pay for all licenses (except for a standard driver license) and exam fees that are part of the job requirements.

Training – The team has proposed that each member receive up to $2500 per year for training and employee development.

On call pay for hourly employees – The proposal calls for compensation f

or hourly employees for time spent on call, but not working.

Seniority and layoff groups – Jon reported on the discussion with management regarding the proposed changes to layoff groups and how seniority is calculated. Jon reiterated that the primary purpose of the change is to create larger layoff groups. He said that he felt that the discussion with management went well.

Tim Apicella reviewed the seniority/layoff proposal components: (1) TLTs, temps, and intern positions to be eliminated before any represented positions are eliminated; (2) a change in how layoff groups are created in order to get as many members into layoff groups with at least four positions as possible; and (3) seniority to be based on start date in a position that is or would have been represented by the unit.

A question was raised as to how feedback on the seniority issues was obtained from the membership. Tim responded that the survey results indicated that the membership wanted change. There was much discussion about the wording of the survey question on seniority and how to interpret the responses. Tim said that he felt that members understood what the question was about.

A question was also asked about what meetings had been held for discussion on the seniority issue prior to the vote taken by the Policy Committee on June 14. Tim reported that four meetings had been held on the topic, either involving just the Seniority Committee or the whole Policy Committee.

After further discussion, a motion was made and seconded, to send the proposed seniority and layoff group process language to the membership for a vote on whether they want seniority to be based on start date in the bargaining unit or use the calculation method that is in the current contract. Following the motion, the discussion continued and the issues of the difficulty, and inherent liability, of how seniority is calculated under the current contract were reiterated for those una

ble to attend previous meetings on the topic. There was also a discussion of the difficulty in presenting such a complex issue to the membership so that members would have adequate information and complete understanding of the issue.

Once everyone had a chance to comment, a vote was called. The motion did not carry (For – 2; Opposed – 5; Abstentions – 3).

VEBA

Whitney announced that the Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) had decided that each bargaining unit will vote as to whether to allow a retiree’s sick leave cashout to be put into a health care account tax-free. All members of a bargaining unit will vote. The vote will be all-or-nothing; People who retiree in ’07-‘09 will not have an option to cashout their sick leave for cash or to fund a tax-free VEBA. The unit will vote to decide this for all ’07-’09 retireess. This vote has yet to be scheduled, but will probably take place in September. For more information on VEBAs, employees should check the King County Focus on Employees web site at: http://www.metrokc.gov/employees/benefits/hraveba/default.aspx.

Next Meeting Reminder

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 27, 2006 at noon in Room 4C at King Street Center.

Meetings Schedule for 2006

· August – NO MEETING

· September 19 – Tuesday

· November 1 – Wednesday

· December 14 – Thursday

Policy Committee Minutes - June 14, 2006

(Next meeting scheduled is for
Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 5:15 pm at the Local 17 office)

Policy Committee Members in Attendance: Christine Anderson, Tim Apicella, Chris Arnbrister, Jim Arrowsmith, Hossein Barahimi, Jonathon Bez, Steve Coffing, Gunnar Goerlitz, Peggy Harris, Jerry Hunnicutt, Anne Marie Jehle, Jay Osborne, and Whitney Hupf (Local 17 Rep).

Others in Attendance: Romell Reed, Theresa Huey, and Tony Longo.

The meeting was called to order at 12:06 p.m. by chair, Jonathon Bez. Interest Arb (Transit) Contract Negotiation - SeniorityJon Bez provided background on previous discussions among Policy Committee members on the issue of how seniority is calculated for the purposes of a reduction in work force. Over the past year or so, the topic has been discussed during Policy Committee meetings as a r

esult of a Seniority dispute in the Non-Interest Arb bargaining unit. The topic has more recently been discussed among the members of the Interest Arb contract negotiations team. The team put together a proposal for upcoming contract negotiations based on feedback from Policy Committee members during those earlier discussions and from feedback received from bargaining unit members through a survey conducted in early March that was developed to gather information on potential issues for contract negotiations. The contract negotiations team met with the Seniority Committee on June 6, 2006 to discuss the proposal. The Seniority Committee voted to forward the proposal to the Policy Committee for discussion and to get the larger committee's guidance on how the negotiations team should proceed on the issue of seniority. Jon explained the four elements of the proposal:

Pre-Layoff Period and Process. The proposal clarifies the pre-layoff process and provides for collaboration between Local 17 and management in determining the number of positions to be eliminated.

TLTs, Interns, and Temporary Employees. The proposal specifies that TLT, intern, and temporary positions are to be eliminated before any bargaining unit positions within a section will be eliminated.

Size of Lay-off Groups. The proposal offers an approach for creating larger lay-off groups. Currently, 20% of bargaining unit members are in a lay-off group of one and 43% of members are in a lay-off group of four or less. The approach would combine these small lay-off groups by classifications series and then by classification families.

Seniority Calculation. The proposal would change how seniority is calcul

ated from hours worked as employed in a position represented by the bargaining unit to a member's start date within the bargaining unit.

Discussion among the Policy Committee members focused on the third and fourth elements of the proposal. Size of Lay-Off GroupsThere was discussion as to whether the proposal for grouping small lay-off groups is beneficial to members. Tim Apicella reminded members that it was an objective of the first contract negotiations team to create the largest groups possible. It was also pointed out that by reducing the number of groups, it would be more difficult for management to "pick and choose" which positions would be eliminated. Whitney reminded everyone that at this point, the approach would be introduced as a concept during negotiations and that the details need to be worked out. In the end, all members will need to know the specifics of the proposal. Seniority CalculationTim sta

ted that after much discussion, the Seniority Committee voted to recommend the change in seniority calculation. He said that in the past, seniority calculations based on hours compensated have been extremely difficult due to how such records are kept. He emphasized that the Union wants to be the arbiter of seniority and under the current system it is difficult to do with any accuracy. Whitney confirmed that point by stating that in the past, Local 17 has been given inaccurate information. Their concern is for getting the correct information. She said that another problem with the current method is that seniority is a moving target, in that members can change their full-time/part-time status. Tracking such changes is difficult. It was pointed out that just because the calculation is difficult, that it doesn't mean that it should not be done that way. It was suggested that a seniority list be created based on hours compensated and that each member sign off and confirm that his or her information is correct. Another suggestion was that PERS information be used to calculate seniority. It was pointed out that these methods do not offer the simplicity of the proposed method and that they do not ensure accurate information. One committee member stated that he has spent several months working to correct his PERS information. It was also mentioned that PERS calculations include time worked in positions that are outside the bargaining unit. It was moved that the proposed language be approved by the Policy Committee and be used to give direction during contract negotiations. The motion was carried by a vote of 7-2-1 (7 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstention). Jon thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and acknowledged that discussions will continue.The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m.

Next Meeting Reminder: The next meeting is scheduled for Thursd

ay, June 29, 2006 at 5:15 p.m. at the Local 17 office.

Upcoming Meetings

July – NO MEETING

August – NO MEETING

September 19 – Tuesday

November 1 – Wednesday

December 14 – Thursday

Policy Committee Minutes – April 18, 2006

In Attendance: Christine Anderson, Chris Arnbrister, Tim Apicella, Jim Arrowsmith, Jonathon Bez, Steve Coffing, Mark Dalton, Gunnar Goerlitz, Anne Marie Jehle, Fred Moody, Jay Osborne, Sue Osterhoudt, John Shively, Lois Watt, Elliott Levin, and Whitney Hupf (Local 17 Rep).

The meeting was called to order at 5:27 p.m.

Subcommittee Reports

Communications Subcommittee. Jon Bez sent out an email to Interest-Arb (Transit) members who have email addresses soliciting input via the contract issues survey. John Shively reported that he continues to work on updating the membership list.

Shop Stewards Subcommittee. Shop Steward training was scheduled for March 18, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m, at the Local 17 office. Steve Coffing, Rebecca Switaj, and Christine Anderson attended the session.

There was a discussion on whether shop stewards should be required to be members of the Policy Committee. Whitney said that in the past shop stewards were not required to attend PC meetings and keeping the stewards updated was an issue. There was general agreement that it was important that shop stewards are well-informed and that there is value to having more people trained to be stewards. A motion was made that the Policy Committee has a right to appoint stewards that are not necessarily Policy Committee members. The motion passed. Whitney said she would check to see who currently has completed shop steward training and who has signed the contract. Jon will work with Whitney to update the website to reflect PC policy regarding shop stewards.

Membership Subcommittee. John Shively reported that L17 is going through an audit of current membership. John and Rebecca Switaj are working with Laura to get the membership roster up-to-date. The goal is to have it completed by April.

Governance Subcommittee. Now that Gunbjorg Ladstein has retired, there is a need for someone to take over as chair of the Governance Subcommittee. Committee members include John Shively, Rey Segui, and Jon Bez. There was interest in recruiting another member from Transit. The Policy Committee will work on soliciting a new chair.

Seniority Subcommittee. Tim Apicella said that there are no seniority grievances to report. The Seniority Subcommittee will talk to the contract negotiating team about issues for the upcoming contract renewal.

Interest Arb Contract Negotiations Update – Member Survey

IFPTE Local 17's Research Director, Elliott Levin, distributed a handout that summarized the results of the member survey conducted in early March. There were 122 responses; 97 were through the online survey. Benefits, wages, and leaves rated the highest as member priorities. It was noted that the online survey worked very well from a technical perspective. Many thanks to Elliott and Taryn for setting up the survey and working with the results.

Interest Arb Contract Negotiations Update

Christine Anderson reported that the team had their first meeting with management and that both sides presented a list of issues that each would like to discuss during the negotiations. There was discussion among the Policy Committee members of how to submit the bargaining unit’s proposal since some of the issues were similar to issues being discussed in the Supervisor's and Chief's contract and they were still in negotiations. It was agreed to schedule a meeting with Policy Committee members to go over contract issues in more detail. Jon said that he would set up the meeting.

Past Policy Committee Minutes

Policy Committee Minutes 10-25-07

Policy Committee Minutes 9-5-07

Minutes of

Policy Committee - April 24, 2007

Next Evening Meeting Reminder

Minutes of Policy Committee Meeting April 4, 2007

Subcommittee Reports

Whitney Report

Non-interest Arb Contract

Next Meeting Reminder

Next Meeting Reminder

June 29, 2006

Next Meeting Reminder

Policy Committee Minutes - June 14, 2006

Policy Committee Minutes – April 18, 2006

Subcommittee Reports

Interest Arb Contract Negotiations Update – Member Survey

Interest Arb Contract Negotiations Update

Policy Committee Minutes
10-25-07

Policy Committee Minutes
9-5-07