Board adopts bargaining structure and nomination/election procedure for 2013-2015 negotiations

It’s time to gear up for the next round of bargaining on the 2013-2015 contracts that will start on all General Government and Higher Education contracts early next year.

The Federation Executive Board on Saturday (Aug. 27) adopted the bargaining structure for the 2013-2015 negotiations and also the nominations and elections procedure for this next round of bargaining.

You can find both on the Federation website at www.wfse.org. Look under the “Bargaining” tab on the left side of the home page. They’ll be the first two documents on the menu. Or click on these links:

• 2013-2015 Bargaining Structure

• 2013-2015 Nominations and Elections Procedure

These documents will also come to you in the mail in a special September edition of the Federation newspaper, the Washington State Employee. That edition will also include a bargaining proposal form you can take to your local, which would consider it and vote whether to forward it to the respective bargaining teams.

The documents lay out all the significant time frames. But two to keep in mind:

• The call for nominations will be mailed to all eligible members no later than Sept. 12.

• Contract proposals must be submitted to Federation headquarters no later than Nov. 23. Locals, the Federation Executive Board and the Federation executive director may submit contract proposals. So a lot of the debate on proposals will be at your local’s meetings over the next few months.