STATE EMPLOYEES “SHOCKED” GOVERNOR SNUBBED NEGOTIATED CONTRACTS, DEVEREUX TELLS HOUSE BUDGET PANEL

The Federation called on legislators to reject Gov. Chris Gregoire’s refusal to forward a funding request for the pay raises and other economic parts of the contracts she just negotiated with you.

“Bluntly, we were shocked that the governor chose to not fund our contracts,” Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux told the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday afternoon.

The dispute is now in court.

“We believe that the governor should have moved the contracts forward to you and the proper place for the debate about economic viability of the contracts should have been here,” Devereux added.

The governor’s inaction puts the contracts in limbo. Without a funding proposal, the contracts can’t win legislative approval. Without that, the current contracts expire June 30 and the new contracts can’t take effect.

“Forty-five states have sizable deficits and less than two are not funding their employees’ contracts or compensation where contracts do not exist…,” Devereux said.

“By all measures, the economic portion of our contracts is incredibly conservative, some would say paltry, because of the economic environment. Whether we liked it or not, we took the economic climate into account during bargaining. Our settlement included no increase in the salary survey percentage, no decrease in the employee’s share of health care and a mere 2 percent (pay raise) in each year of the biennium. Two percent is less than 50 percent of the current cost of living.”

Devereux faulted the governor for not looking at sensible solutions for new revenue, like closing tax loopholes, so the budget is not balanced on the backs of state employees and the citizens who depend on their quality services.

“In the end, if you want quality services, you must pay for them,” he said. “You know you cannot get government on the cheap.

“Our citizens, now more than ever, need quality government services. We ask your help in providing a quality workforce to deliver those essential services.”

Rep. Steve Conway suggested one creative solution could be early retirement incentives. “It is something we will consider,” Devereux said, but it has to be balanced with keeping as many state employees on the job so workloads don’t get even worse.