BILL REQ. #:  H-5571.2 

READ FIRST TIME 03/04/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to managing costs of the ferry system; amending RCW 47.64.170, 47.64.200, 47.64.320, and 47.28.030; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the Washington state ferries system is a critical component of the state's highway system. The legislature further finds that ferry system revenues are inadequate to support the capital requirements of aging vessels and terminals, and operating cost growth is fast outpacing the growth of fare revenue and gas tax revenue dedicated to the ferry system. As such, and drawing on more than four consecutive years of legislative analysis and operating policy reforms, the legislature finds that a realignment of the ferry compensation policy framework is an appropriate next step toward the legislature's long-term goal of assuring sustainable, cost-effective ferry service. The legislature further intends to address increasing costs of operating the ferry system in a manner that balances the interests of the ferry system, ferry labor unions, and the fare payers.

Sec. 2   RCW 47.64.170 and 2007 c 160 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any ferry employee organization certified as the bargaining representative shall be the exclusive representative of all ferry employees in the bargaining unit and shall represent all such employees fairly.
     (2) A ferry employee organization or organizations and the governor may each designate any individual as its representative to engage in collective bargaining negotiations.
     (3) Negotiating sessions, including strategy meetings of the employer or employee organizations, mediation, and the deliberative process of arbitrators are exempt from the provisions of chapter 42.30 RCW. Hearings conducted by arbitrators may be open to the public by mutual consent of the parties.
     (4) Terms of any collective bargaining agreement may be enforced by civil action in Thurston county superior court upon the initiative of either party.
     (5) Ferry system employees or any employee organization shall not negotiate or attempt to negotiate directly with anyone other than the person who has been appointed or authorized a bargaining representative for the purpose of bargaining with the ferry employees or their representative.
     (6)(a) Within ten working days after the first Monday in September of every odd-numbered year, the parties shall attempt to agree on an interest arbitrator to be used if the parties are not successful in negotiating a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement. If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator within the ten-day period, either party may request a list of seven arbitrators from the federal mediation and conciliation service. The parties shall select an interest arbitrator using the coin toss/alternate strike method within thirty calendar days of receipt of the list. Immediately upon selecting an interest arbitrator, the parties shall cooperate to reserve dates with the arbitrator for potential arbitration between August 1st and September 15th of the following even-numbered year. The parties shall also prepare a schedule of at least five negotiation dates for the following year, absent an agreement to the contrary. The parties shall execute a written agreement before November 1st of each odd-numbered year setting forth the name of the arbitrator and the dates reserved for bargaining and arbitration. This subsection (6)(a) imposes minimum obligations only and is not intended to define or limit a party's full, good faith bargaining obligation under other sections of this chapter.
     (b) The negotiation of a proposed collective bargaining agreement by representatives of the employer and a ferry employee organization shall commence on or about February 1st of every even-numbered year.
     (c) For negotiations covering the 2009-2011 biennium and subsequent biennia, the time periods specified in this section, and in RCW 47.64.210 and 47.64.300 through 47.64.320, must ensure conclusion of all agreements on or before October 1st of the even-numbered year next preceding the biennial budget period during which the agreement should take effect. These time periods may only be altered by mutual agreement of the parties in writing. Any such agreement and any impasse procedures agreed to by the parties under RCW 47.64.200 must include an agreement regarding the new time periods that will allow final resolution by negotiations or arbitration by October 1st of each even-numbered year.
     (7) Until a new collective bargaining agreement is in effect, the terms and conditions of the previous collective bargaining agreement shall remain in force. It is the intent of this section that the collective bargaining agreement or arbitrator's award shall commence on July 1st of each odd-numbered year and shall terminate on June 30th of the next odd-numbered year to coincide with the ensuing biennial budget year, as defined by RCW 43.88.020(7), to the extent practical. It is further the intent of this section that all collective bargaining agreements be concluded by October 1st of the even-numbered year before the commencement of the biennial budget year during which the agreements are to be in effect.
     (8)(a) The governor shall submit a request either for funds necessary to implement the collective bargaining agreements including, but not limited to, the compensation and fringe benefit provisions or for legislation necessary to implement the agreement, or both. Requests for funds necessary to implement the collective bargaining agreements shall not be submitted to the legislature by the governor unless such requests:
     (i) Have been submitted to the director of the office of financial management by October 1st before the legislative session at which the requests are to be considered; and
     (ii) Have been certified by the director of the office of financial management as being feasible financially for the state.
     (b) The governor shall submit a request either for funds necessary to implement the arbitration awards or for legislation necessary to implement the arbitration awards, or both. Requests for funds necessary to implement the arbitration awards shall not be submitted to the legislature by the governor unless such requests:
     (i) Have been submitted to the director of the office of financial management by October 1st before the legislative session at which the requests are to be considered; and
     (ii) Have been certified by the director of the office of financial management as being feasible financially for the state.
     (c) The legislature shall approve or reject the submission of the request for funds necessary to implement the collective bargaining agreements or arbitration awards as a whole for each agreement or award. The legislature shall not consider a request for funds to implement a collective bargaining agreement or arbitration award unless the request is transmitted to the legislature as part of the governor's budget document submitted under RCW 43.88.030 and 43.88.060. If the legislature rejects or fails to act on the submission, either party may reopen all or part of the agreement and award or the exclusive bargaining representative may seek to implement the procedures provided for in RCW 47.64.210 and 47.64.300.
     (9) If, after the compensation and fringe benefit provisions of an agreement are approved by the legislature, a significant revenue shortfall occurs resulting in reduced appropriations, as declared by proclamation of the governor or by resolution of the legislature, both parties shall immediately enter into collective bargaining for a mutually agreed upon modification of the agreement.

Sec. 3   RCW 47.64.200 and 2006 c 164 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     As the first step in the performance of their duty to bargain, the employer and the employee organization shall endeavor to agree upon impasse procedures. Unless otherwise agreed to by the employee organization and the employer in their impasse procedures, the arbitrator or panel ((is limited to selecting the most reasonable offer, in its judgment, of the final offers on each impasse item submitted by the parties. The employee organization and the employer may mutually agree to the impasse procedure under which the arbitrator or panel may)) shall issue a decision it deems just and appropriate with respect to each impasse item. If the parties fail to agree upon impasse procedures under this section, the impasse procedures provided in RCW 47.64.210 and 47.64.230 and 47.64.300 through 47.64.320 apply. It is unlawful for either party to refuse to participate in the impasse procedures provided in RCW 47.64.210 and 47.64.230 and 47.64.300 through 47.64.320.

Sec. 4   RCW 47.64.320 and 2006 c 164 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The mediator, arbitrator, or arbitration panel may consider only matters that are subject to bargaining under this chapter.
     (2) The decision of an arbitrator or arbitration panel is not binding on the legislature and, if the legislature does not approve the funds necessary to implement provisions pertaining to compensation and fringe benefit provisions of an arbitrated collective bargaining agreement, is not binding on the state, the department of transportation, or the ferry employee organization.
     (3) In making its determination, the arbitrator or arbitration panel shall be mindful of the legislative purpose under RCW 47.64.005 and 47.64.006 and, as additional standards or guidelines to aid it in reaching a decision, shall take into consideration the following factors:
     (a) The financial ability of the department to pay for the compensation and fringe benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement;
     (b) Past collective bargaining contracts between the parties including the bargaining that led up to the contracts;
     (((b))) (c) The constitutional and statutory authority of the employer;
     (((c))) (d) Stipulations of the parties;
     (((d))) (e) The results of the salary survey as required in RCW 47.64.220;
     (((e))) (f) Comparison of wages, hours, employee benefits, and conditions of employment of the involved ferry employees with those of public and private sector employees in states along the west coast of the United States, including Alaska, and in British Columbia doing directly comparable but not necessarily identical work, giving consideration to factors peculiar to the area and the classifications involved or with other state employees;
     (((f))) (g) Changes in any of the foregoing circumstances during the pendency of the proceedings;
     (((g))) (h) The limitations on ferry toll increases and operating subsidies as may be imposed by the legislature; and
     (((h))) (i) Other factors that are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of matters that are subject to bargaining under this chapter.

Sec. 5   RCW 47.28.030 and 2007 c 218 s 90 are each amended to read as follows:
     A state highway shall be constructed, altered, repaired, or improved, and improvements located on property acquired for right-of-way purposes may be repaired or renovated pending the use of such right-of-way for highway purposes, by contract or state forces. The work or portions thereof may be done by state forces when the estimated costs thereof are less than fifty thousand dollars and effective July 1, 2005, sixty thousand dollars, or less than one hundred twenty thousand dollars for work performed on ferry vessels or terminals: PROVIDED, That when delay of performance of such work would jeopardize a state highway or constitute a danger to the traveling public, the work may be done by state forces when the estimated cost thereof is less than eighty thousand dollars and effective July 1, 2005, one hundred thousand dollars. When the department of transportation determines to do the work by state forces, it shall enter a statement upon its records to that effect, stating the reasons therefor. To enable a larger number of small businesses, and minority, and women contractors to effectively compete for department of transportation contracts, the department may adopt rules providing for bids and award of contracts for the performance of work, or furnishing equipment, materials, supplies, or operating services whenever any work is to be performed and the engineer's estimate indicates the cost of the work would not exceed eighty thousand dollars and effective July 1, 2005, one hundred thousand dollars. The rules adopted under this section:
     (1) Shall provide for competitive bids to the extent that competitive sources are available except when delay of performance would jeopardize life or property or inconvenience the traveling public; and
     (2) Need not require the furnishing of a bid deposit nor a performance bond, but if a performance bond is not required then progress payments to the contractor may be required to be made based on submittal of paid invoices to substantiate proof that disbursements have been made to laborers, material suppliers, mechanics, and subcontractors from the previous partial payment; and
     (3) May establish prequalification standards and procedures as an alternative to those set forth in RCW 47.28.070, but the prequalification standards and procedures under RCW 47.28.070 shall always be sufficient.
     The department of transportation shall comply with such goals and rules as may be adopted by the office of minority and women's business enterprises to implement chapter 39.19 RCW with respect to contracts entered into under this chapter. The department may adopt such rules as may be necessary to comply with the rules adopted by the office of minority and women's business enterprises under chapter 39.19 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6    The department shall develop a methodology for giving public visibility to the cost service tradeoffs among sailing schedules, crew schedules, crew costs, and operating costs with a goal of enabling crew and passenger cost lowering suggestions to be considered during each schedule development cycle. The methodology is to be reported to the transportation committees of the legislature by September 1, 2010.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   The governor shall consult with the affected unions to conduct a comprehensive review of the current array of bargaining units and contracts associated with the Washington ferry service with a view to proposing any appropriate improvements which may assure the long-term viability of a career workforce within a cost-effective service.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   The sum of seven million three hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the Puget Sound ferry operations account to the department of transportation solely for the purposes of travel time associated with Washington state ferries employees. The amounts provided in this section are contingent upon the provision of data to the legislature for a transparent analysis of travel pay policies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.