Pierce County, facing what officials describe as an $8 million deficit, wants its employee unions to forgo the guaranteed 2.5 percent cost-of-living raises written into their contracts.
Executive Pat McCarthy made the request in letters to 11 bargaining groups, saying the concession would “significantly reduce the number of layoffs we otherwise face, and help us maintain service levels to the citizens of Pierce County”
“I do not make this unprecedented request lightly,” she added.
County employees not represented by unions also are in line for 2.5 percent cost-of-living increases in 2011, and McCarthy wants to hold the line on their pay as well.
That won’t happen, though, if the unions don’t agree to the concession, because the county doesn’t want to create two classes of employees, she said Monday.
McCarthy needs their decisions soon, she said. She plans to deliver a balanced budget proposal to the County Council by Sept. 23. She’s looking for savings from all departments, and closing the budget gap likely will involve a number of cuts that could include layoffs and curtailed services, she added.
The labor groups have yet to respond to the request, but two unions have asked for more information.
In a letter to McCarthy, Robert Westbrook of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said he couldn’t take the request to his membership without answers to several questions.
“Where would the cuts come from?” he asked. “What service levels would be affected and how? When would the cuts come and where would layoffs be expected?”
Roberta Burnett, a representative for Local 17 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, said Monday that she’s asked similar questions.
Without detailed information about the county budget and cuts being studied, she can’t ask her members to think about concessions, she said.
“Since the contract isn’t open, we have no obligation to seriously consider it,” she said. But she added, “We have an interest in working with the county because, obviously, their future is our future.”
Not paying the 2.5 percent increases would save the county’s general fund about $4 million, Deputy County Executive Kevin Phelps said.
Nixing the cost-of-living raises would affect 1,085 union members and 1,355 nonrepresented workers.
Altogether, the county has 19 contracts with 14 unions, representing 1,700 of its roughly 3,000 employees.
The county is bargaining now with three unions representing about 600 employees. Their 2011 raises will be determined in those talks.
Many of the county’s labor contracts carry language guaranteeing a minimum 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise, regardless of inflation. The same verbiage restricts inflationary hikes to 5.5 percent.
Such agreements are meant to limit the county’s exposure to huge pay hikes if the cost of living rises dramatically while at the same time giving employees raises they can bank on in leaner times.
Last month, County Council members reluctantly approved labor pacts with raises higher than inflation. Two of the contracts hold the 2.5 percent cost-of-living guarantee.
Councilwoman Joyce McDonald, R-Puyallup, voted against those two pacts, saying it was difficult to sanction the raises at a time of negative inflation.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month that the area Consumer Price Index fell 0.5 percent from June 2009 to June 2010.
On Friday, McDonald praised McCarthy’s efforts to contain the hikes.
The weak economy continues to hurt the county’s bottom line, and “the unions, just like everyone else,” need to help out, she said.
“I don’t think a wage freeze for a couple of years would hurt any of us.”
In making her request of the unions, McCarthy pointed out that the consumer price index dropped nearly 1 percent over the last two years. At the same time, union members got cost-of-living raises totaling 5 percent.
Pierce County isn’t alone, she pointed out.
King County recently bargained a union contract with no cost-of-living raises in 2011 and has asked other unions to hold the line.
Burnett said her union’s members are keenly aware of the county’s budget problems, but they’ll have to weigh a number of factors in making any concessions. One of those is any increase in employee contributions to health care premiums. The county and its unions bargain separately on medical benefits and contributions, and those talks will begin soon.
“Health care costs are a moving target,” Phelps said, but the county is expecting about an 8 percent increase.
The coming decisions will be difficult, Burnett said.
In her 20 years in labor, Burnett said she hasn’t dealt with the kind of midcontract request Pierce County is making. But she added that her colleagues in Seattle and King County have done so.
“These are new times for everybody,” she said
Kris Sherman: 253-597-8659 kris.sherman@thenewstribune.com
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