In our recent newsletters we discussed the extension of arbitration to emergency dispatchers (Newsletter 4/26/24). In the last article, we discussed what the chief interest arbitration factors were under law and arbitration precedent (Newsletter 4/29/24). We noted in that article that there may be some complexities in extending those principles to dispatchers and we discuss that here.

In the last newsletter, we discussed that the Washington legislature has extended binding interest arbitration rights to emergency dispatchers. In this article, we discuss some practical questions about how interest arbitration would work, specifically for E911 employees.

Long overdue good news for Washington Dispatchers. The Governor has signed SB 5808, extending binding interest arbitration rights to E911 centers. The law includes emergency telecommunicators in the definition of “uniform employees” under the PECBA interest arbitration provisions.

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.

A long-delayed Island County Interest Arbitration has resulted in the Corrections Guild prevailing with a six-year wage award that, with year to year compounding, increased wages by 19.7%. The contract was delayed not just by lengthy arbitration and mediation, but also by a County Unfair Labor Practice that had resulted in canceling a scheduled 2019 hearing date. The Award covers contract years 2017 through 2022.

This is the second of two articles on recent Interest Arbitration decisions as part of our Annual Wage survey. A summary of all recent arbitrations since 2008 is available on the Premium website. This article covers a September 2020 decision by Arbitrator Jeffrey Jacobs involving the Washington State Fish & Wildlife Officers Guild (FWOG). While there were a few decisions last fall involving State employee bargaining units that are unique to those groups, this decision and the previously discussed Clark County decision are the only arbitration decisions involving public safety employee wage arbitration since the pandemic. (There is a November 2020 decision involving the Snohomish County corrections officers that only concerns their health insurance coverage.)

This is part 12 of our Annual wage series. In this portion of the series, we turn to a couple of 2020 arbitration decisions as we attempt to assess how these decisions may or may not impact overall settlement trends. In this article, we discuss a decision issued by Arbitrator Richard Ahearn involving the Clark County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild. In our next blog, we’ll discuss an arbitration involving the State Wildlife Officers.

This is the seventh and final article in a series of articles on recent Interest Arbitration decisions. A summary of all recent arbitration decisions since 2008 is available on the Premium website. This is a decision by Arbitrator Timothy Williams involving Port Angeles Police. The award was issued in April of this year.

This is the sixth in a series of articles on recent Interest Arbitration decisions. A summary of all recent arbitration decisions since 2008 is available on the Premium website. This is a decision by Arbitrator Howell Lankford concerning Spokane Transit Authority Paratransit Operators.

This is the fifth in a series of articles on recent Interest Arbitration decisions. A summary of all recent arbitration decisions since 2008 is available on the Premium website. This is a decision by Arbitrator Ken Latsch concerning the Everett Firefighters.