Labor contracts covering salaries for about 2,000 county workers have been ratified by a 6-to-1 margin and include raises and a freeze on medical premiums paid by employees.
The contracts are pending final approval by the Snohomish County Council. As proposed, they cover county government employees through the end of 2008.
The contracts were approved for 23 of the county’s 24 bargaining units in votes during August, said Chris Dugovich, president and executive director of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees.
The agreement covers the county’s largest bargaining units and affects employees in every major department, finance director Roger Neumaier said.
Salaries and benefits for the union workers were $98 million in 2004. Under the proposed contract, the cost of salaries and benefits will rise to $101 million – a 3.1 percent increase.
In 2006, the increase will be an estimated $3.6 million, or 3.6 percent, Neumaier said, based on estimated wages and health care trends.
The approximately 50 union members in the Assessor’s Office did not approve their contract because of a disagreement over language governing workplace conditions, Dugovich said.
Workers will receive a 2.5 percent raise retroactive to January and a 2.19 percent raise in 2006. Raises in 2007 and 2008 will be calculated based on 95 percent of the region’s rate of inflation.
More than 1,000 employees cast votes on the contracts, Dugovich said.
“The medical portion is really the key,” Dugovich said. “For the first time in a long time, employees of Snohomish County won’t see their cost-of-living increases eroded by rising medical premiums.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@ heraldnet.com.
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