Update November 8, 2011 - (back to Spokane Health page)
SRHD Local 17

The Negotiating Team met with the Employer for our first, and so far only session, on November 3rd.  During negotiations we focused exclusively on health care.  Although Local 17 and the District had a detailed and thorough discussion, each party making various proposals, we did not reach agreement.

Discussions today indicate that we may get another proposal from the Employer today or early tomorrow.  If we do get a proposal the team will review it and determine what steps to take next.  If it is a good enough proposal to vote then we may just vote the health care of health care/COLA proposal on its own while we continue to negotiate the rest of the contract so that we can move forward for open enrollment.  If we do vote we will have to do a very quick turnaround so that employees can make open enrollment decisions by the 21st if possible.  (We may have a bit of wiggle room on this but not much).

If we do not reach agreement then the Employer is required by law to continue health care status quo.  The Employer and Local 17 may have very different views on what status quo is.  If it appears that we are not headed towards agreement in the next few days but instead toward status quo implementation, Local 17 will work with the Employer to see if we can reach agreement on status quo and get the information out to you before the last day for open enrollment.

If we do not reach agreement on status quo the Employer will implement their version of status quo and then Local 17 will file with PERC (state agency that is tasked with hearing and adjudicating Employer/Union disputes) to see if there was a violation of the law.  If no violation is found, status quo will continue until agreement is reached which may or may not include retroactivity.  If a violation is found then the new status quo will be implemented retroactively and employees will get reimbursed for any undue expense.  This new status quo will continue until a new agreement is reached.

So for now, the focus for the next couple days is on getting a proposal from the Employer.

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