Part 8: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Does Geography Impact Settlements?

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This article continues are series on recent contract settlement trends. It uses city police 2022 settlements as the data source, but these trends seem to apply generally to other public safety occupations. In this article we cover the impact of location on contract settlements.

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Part 7: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Recent Pattern in Contract Settlements

Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This article continues our series on recent developments influencing contract negotiations. One of the most important influences on contract negotiations (and arbitration) is contract settlements, especially among comparable jurisdictions. There have been some unusual patterns that have developed in Washington public safety labor negotiations, and these seem to be highly influenced by external economic events.

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Part 6: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Shifts among Local Government Revenues

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the last couple of articles in this series, we discussed the state of local government revenues and their potential impact on negotiations. In this article, we discuss how the differences between the structure of local economies can impact negotiations. We also discuss some significant shifts in revenue distribution that have occurred in recent years, especially since the pandemic.

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Part 5: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Local Government Revenue Reports

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the last article in this series, we briefly discussed the Washington tax system and how it impacts local government revenues. In this article, we will discuss the current revenue situation.

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Part 4: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Local Government Budgets

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the previous articles in this series, we’ve discussed inflation and inflation predictions. We have also discussed expectations for whether there will be a recession and how that might impact the job market. Two other important economic factors to discuss, as they will have some impact on labor contract settlements, are the tax revenues and budgets of local governments.

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Part 3: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — How Real is the Recession Threat to your Negotiations?

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the last two articles in this series, we discussed recent and projected CPI. We have described the recent spikes in inflation as well as economist predictions that inflation will start to taper off.

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Part 2: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Inflation Predictions

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the last Newsletter article in this series, we updated you on recent inflation numbers. This included a surprisingly large jump in the inflation reported in June, followed by a modest decline in July. Do the July numbers indicate that we’ve turned a corner? If so, how far can we expect the CPI to drop? That’s the topic that we turn to today.

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Part 1: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Latest in CPI

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

Earlier this month we presented a webinar covering recent inflation and contract settlement trends with a focus on what lies ahead for groups currently in negotiations or planning to start them soon. The webinar and transcript are available on our Premium Website. This article is the first of a series on these issues.

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15 Lessons from the Island County Interest Arbitration Decision

By Jim Cline

Every arbitration contains lessons to apply to contract negotiations. Sometimes the lessons involve an extension of standards ways that arbitrators approach issues, and sometimes they involve unique situations or novel arguments on existing issues.

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CPI Continues to Ride High — But with Signs of Moderation

By Jim Cline

The latest CPI report continued to show high inflation numbers, even higher than the previous set. But inside those numbers were signs that the predicted slow down in inflation may lie ahead. The Seattle 12-month through April to April “W” index was reported at an eye-popping 8.1%. The All Cities index was even higher at 8.6%:

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