HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 2078
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
As Reported by House Committee On:
Labor
Title: An act relating to collective bargaining by ferry employee organizations.
Brief Description: Addressing collective bargaining by ferry employee organizations.
Sponsors: Representatives Sells, Appleton, Stanford, Kochmar, Ormsby and S. Hunt.
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
Labor: 2/16/15, 2/17/15 [DP].
Brief Summary of Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LABOR |
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 4 members: Representatives Sells, Chair; Gregerson, Vice Chair; Moeller and Ormsby.
Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 3 members: Representatives Manweller, Ranking Minority Member; G. Hunt, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; McCabe.
Staff: Joan Elgee (786-7106).
Background:
Representatives of ferry workers in the Marine Transportation Division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), who are members of a collective bargaining unit represented by a ferry employee organization, bargain with a representative of the Governor over wages, hours, working conditions, insurance, grievance procedures, and other matters mutually agreed upon. Negotiations begin about February 1 of every even-numbered year, and must be finally resolved by October 1 of each even-numbered year. The collective bargaining law states that it is the intent that agreements commence on July 1 of each odd-numbered year and terminate on June 30 of the next odd-numbered year to coincide with the biennial budget year, to the extent practical.
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Summary of Bill:
Any ferry employee organization and the representative of the Governor may negotiate four-year contracts for nonwage-related issues. Wage-related issues are subject to two-year negotiations. "Wage-related" means all items that affect or relate to, directly or indirectly, employee compensation, including for example wages, benefits, benefits accruals, holidays, vacation accruals, sick leave, and penalty pay.
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Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Preliminary fiscal note available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) Negotiating on noneconomic issues every four years will result in an increase in productivity and cost savings. Noneconomic issues such as dispatch rules take up 70 to 90 percent of negotiating time. Only seven months after agreements go into effect, bargaining starts again; it is never ending.
(Opposed) None.
Persons Testifying: Tim Saffle, International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots.
Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.