Q:What is my union contract, anyway?
A:It is a legally binding document that has developed and improved over many years of negotiations. It contains and guarantees important aspects of your wages, hours, and working conditions plus the means for enforcing these guarantees.
Q:What are negotiations?
A:Contract negotiations, or “bargaining,” is a process in which representatives of the union sit down with representatives of the County at the “bargaining table” to discuss and try to agree on changes to the contract or the wages, hours, and working conditions to which the contract applies. Sometimes Local 17 wants changes and sometimes the County does. Each side tries, by using discussion, persuasion, and documentation, to make changes most favorable to its interests.
Q:How long do negotiations take?
A:This is hard to predict and can be influenced by many factors such as the number of issues each side wants to discuss, the willingness of the parties to actively seek compromise, the frequency and length of bargaining meetings, etc.
Local 17 will make every effort to expedite the upcoming negotiations.
Q:How long is a contract good for and why can’t we just have one that lasts for, say, ten years?
A:Traditionally, Local 17’s contracts with the County have had a three-year duration.
There are advantages to “locking in” your deal for a reasonable period of time. It’s nice to have the certainty and peace of mind that important benefits and working conditions are secure but it’s also good to have the opportunity to periodically revisit the conditions the contract protects to try to change and improve them.
Generally, Local 17 favors a three-year contract term and there are legal limitations on the maximum length of a labor contract: three years maximum under state law for public employees.
Q:Who speaks for me at negotiations?
A:Union members serve on the Union’s bargaining committee. Members of Local 17’s professional staff who have specialized training in labor relations, the negotiating process, and labor law coordinate the bargaining committee.
Q:How does the Union bargaining committee know what I want?
A:The union members who will serve on the committee will be Public Works employees, like you. They will review input you have given in the survey (see enclosed). The survey will be your best opportunity to provide input.
If you personally contact members of the bargaining committee to relay your views, please keep in mind that they are juggling their negotiating responsibilities along with their Public Works jobs and consequently will have limited time to spend discussing union issues. Also, the union staff does a review of past surveys, grievances and other pertinent data to assist the committee in its decisions about which issues to emphasize in discussions with the County.
Q:Once the Union committee identifies the key issues, how does it convey these to the County?
A:The Union’s demands are put into writing and given to the County as a proposal. The County, in turn, usually has a proposal for Local 17. Proposals and counter-proposals are exchanged, explained, defined, refined, discussed, dismissed, rejected and revisited over and over until, ideally, some consensus is reached and the parties reach “tentative agreement” on an issue. Sometimes one side or the other will simply withdraw certain issues.
Q:Why do the Union and the County reach “tentative agreement”? When is the agreement firm and final?
A:The parties agree tentatively because both the County and the Union have to seek approval for what they have accomplished at the bargaining table. For instance, as a union member, you get to vote on the tentative agreement. This vote is usually referred to as a “ratification vote.” So, near the end of the bargaining process you and other union members can expect to be notified that a tentative agreement has been negotiated and will be presented to you for consideration. After you have received details of the tentative agreement or offer, you then vote to accept (ratify) or reject it. You, and other members of Local 17, are the union’s “final authority.” Without membership ratification a contract will not become final and binding.
Similarly, the County’s final authority, the Board of Commissioners, must approve a tentative agreement. It is then signed by the parties, printed and distributed to you as a union member, and remains in effect for the agreed upon term until once again the bargaining process is repeated.
