EVERETT — Snohomish County moved Wednesday to break an almost four-year impasse in negotiations with a union representing non-uniformed support staff at the jail, though the contract remains in dispute.
The action allows the 95 members of the jail support services unit to get pay raises that had been frozen during the course of negotiations that began in 2014.
County Executive Dave Somers endorsed the terms after the County Council voted 4-1 to approve them.
In exercising their authority to break the impasse, county leaders cited state labor laws. The new terms for the Teamsters-affiliated bargaining unit include retroactive cost-of-living adjustments of 2 percent for 2015, 2016 and 2018, and 2.5 percent for 2017. That will result in a lump-sum payment of $7,000 to $12,000 for most of the workers. Under the new terms, monthly employee health care contributions will average $67.
The county and the union continue to negotiate the contract for 2015 to 2018.
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