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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, April 14, 2008 Snohomish County, clerks union resume talks Executive Aaron Reardon could still appeal a state labor panel's order to negotiate a contract. By Jeff Switzer Herald Writer EVERETT -- After three years of discord, labor talks again are under way between Snohomish County Superior Court clerks and the county over a new contract after the two sides were ordered to do so by a state labor relations panel. County Executive Aaron Reardon may still go to court to reverse the order by the Public Employment Relations Commission for the two sides to return to the bargaining table. "The appeal period has not run out yet, and the office is still exploring its options," said Christopher Schwarzen, Reardon's spokesman. The 70-member clerks association hopes to win a fair contract, said Shirley Johnston, clerks' association president. No one wants to upset negotiations at this delicate point, she said. Last month, the Public Employment Relations Commission upheld a previous ruling that Reardon and Deputy Executive Mark Soine purposely delayed and frustrated negotiations with the clerks' association. The two sides have been negotiating over a new contract for more than three years. The clerks association broke away from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- the largest county union -- in 2005 and formed their own association. The county has calculated that since February 2005 officials have spent an estimated $250,000 on the labor dispute. The costs include $175,000 for attorneys from the Perkins Coie law firm, $14,000 for labor negotiators and $60,900 for in-house legal advice from the county Prosecuting Attorney's Office. County Councilman Dave Gossett said the council has taken a stronger hand behind closed doors in directing Reardon's office in labor negotiations. The Public Employment Relations Commission stretched its authority by granting binding arbitration to the court clerks, County Councilman Mike ­Cooper said. Even so, the county should not appeal the ruling unless "there's a way we can challenge it without holding up the contract" with the clerks. Led by Cooper, the council voted 4-1 to terminate the county's contract with labor negotiators Strickler and Associates as of May 1. Gossett dissented and put responsibility for negotiations with Reardon's office. It's time "to take a fresh, new holistic view of labor negotiations in Snohomish County and how we work collaboratively at the bargaining table with the unions that represent the people that deliver the service to our customers," Cooper said. "We spent nearly $400,000 in 2007 on labor negotiations," Cooper said. "Maybe we need to do it a different way." Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

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