Appendix: Extra language to explain specific pieces of the contract. Some appendices are included for reference only and are noted as such.
Arbitration: If a grievance cannot be resolved through informal channels, it may be taken to arbitration, where a neutral third party (the arbitrator) will hear both sides of the case and make a binding decision.
Bargaining: Process of discussion between management/employer/OFM with the union about the contracts.
Bargaining table: Refers to the members who serve on the bargaining team, also called the bargaining table, because usually the union and management are sitting at a physical table when bargaining.
Bargaining Unit: This is the group of employees that the union represents in negotiations. They typically share similar job duties and work in the same department or unit.
Biennium: Most contracts are in place for two years. This is referred to as the biennium of the contract. You have voted for the contract that will run from July 1st, 2025, through June 30th, 2027.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA): A COLA is a clause in a contract that provides for automatic wage increases to offset inflation.
Contract/CBA: Collective Bargaining Agreement – is a binding contract between two bargaining groups (management/OFM and the WPEA) that outlines provisions of employment, including but not limited to compensation, working conditions, fringe benefits, and grievances.
Collective bargaining: The process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a bargaining unit for a designated period. The parties have a mutual obligation to bargain in good faith to reach agreement for wages, hours, and working conditions.
Concerted Activities: You have the right to act with co-workers to address work-related issues in many ways. Examples include: talking with one or more co-workers about your wages and benefits or other working conditions, circulating a petition asking for better hours, participating in a concerted refusal to work in unsafe conditions, openly talking about your pay and benefits, and joining with co-workers to talk directly to your employer, to a government agency, or to the media about problems in your workplace. Your employer cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten you for, or coercively question you about, this "protected concerted" activity. A single employee may also engage in protected concerted activity if he or she is acting on the authority of other employees, bringing group complaints to the employer's attention, trying to induce group action, or seeking to prepare for group action. However, you can lose protection by saying or doing something egregiously offensive or knowingly and maliciously false, or by publicly disparaging your employer's products or services without relating your complaints to any labor controversy.
Direct dealing: An attempt by the employer to bypass the union and negotiate terms and conditions of employment directly with an employee. This is a violation of the NLRA.
Good Faith Bargaining: Both the union and the employer have a legal obligation to bargain in good faith. This means they must make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement and must not engage in any unfair practices that would obstruct the bargaining process.
Furloughs/temporary layoff: A “furlough” is any time that an employer requires members of its workforce to take unpaid leave. It means you remain employed, but you don’t work, you don’t get paid, and you cannot use accrued time off (vacation, exchange, etc.) to remain in paid status.
In most Washington State union collective bargaining agreements, we don’t use the word “furlough.” Instead, the contracts talk about temporary reductions in work hours or similar language. This is a broader term that includes furloughs. In the WPEA General Government and Higher Education CBA’s, this language is in the Layoff and Recall article.
Informational Picketing: A type of picketing done with the express intent not to cause a work stoppage, but to publicize either the existence of a labor dispute or information concerning the dispute. The law requires the union to give a ten-day notice before doing information picketing in front of health care facilities.
Job Action: A concerted activity by employees designed to put pressure on the employer without resorting to a strike. Examples include wearing T-shirts, buttons, or hats with union slogans, holding parking lot meetings, collective refusal of voluntary overtime, reporting to work in a group, petition signing, jamming phone lines, etc.
Just Cause: A standard or test often applied to determine the appropriateness of disciplinary action. The factors that may be considered in determining just cause include but are not limited to the seven tests of just cause (see handout).
Labor-Management Meetings: Many WPEA/UFCW contracts provide regular meetings of Delegates with representatives of management to resolve problems, exchange information, and hopefully to prevent problems.
Main table: WPEA has many contracts. Some agencies/institutions bargain directly with their employer/management. There are two contracts that bargain collectively for the greater good of those represented. Some of those similar agencies and institutions who bargain with their employer/management rely on or ‘me too’ portions of the bargaining from the main tables.
Higher Education bargains for:
Bellevue College Big Bend Community College
Cascadia College Clark College
Columbia Basin College Edmonds College
Grays Harbor College Olympic College
Pierce College Skagit Valley College
Tacoma Community College Walla Walla Community College
Wenatchee Valley College
General Government bargains for:
Department of Agriculture Department of Licensing
Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth
Department of Licensing Liquor and Cannabis Board
Military Department Department of Natural Resources
Department of Revenue Washington State Patrol
Washington State School for the Blind
Highline College has their own Contract
Management/Employer: the agency or institution you work for and all their representatives (administration, management, leadership, etc.)
Management Rights: Each contract outlines the terms of management rights within their individual contract.
Mediation: Mediation happens when the two bargaining tables cannot make any more forward movement, but there is not a fully TA’d contract to present for ratification, PERC can provide a neutral third-party mediator to assist the teams.
“Me too Clause”: When a bargaining table agrees to certain articles being accepted into their contract, in their entirety, that a different contract will be bargaining. For example, some bargaining tables ‘me too’ the compensation that the main tables bargain for. So, they agree to accept whatever the main table bargains on that article in its entirety.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): An MOU is a written agreement between the union and the employer that may supplement the main collective bargaining agreement. It's often used to address specific issues or to reach an agreement on terms that may not be covered in the main contract.
Mobilize: To bring workers together to help the union achieve a goal as mobilizing members in an institution to protest unfair action by management or during contract negotiation to show that they are in support of the union’s demands, or for rallies in the state capitol to demonstrate for adequate funding for State Employees.
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA): Federal law guaranteeing workers the right to participate in unions without management reprisals. It was modified in 1947 with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act and modified again in 1959 by the passage of the Landrum-Griffin Act.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): Agency created by the National Labor Relations Act, 1935, and continued through subsequent amendments, whose functions are to define the appropriate bargaining units, to hold elections, to determine whether a majority of workers want to be represented by a specific union or no union, to certify unions to represent employees, to interpret and apply the Act’s provisions prohibiting certain employer and union unfair practices, and otherwise to administer the provisions of the Act.
October 1st deadline: In a ‘normal’ bargaining cycle, both parties work to get contracts completed and ratified by October 1st. This provides time to get the contract to the legislation for budgetary approval.
OFM: Office of Financial Management: This Washington State Office that many agencies/institutions contract with to manage contract bargaining. They have many other functions; this is relative to bargaining. OFM bargains contracts with WPEA for Higher Education & General Government.
Past Practice: A customary way of doing things in the workplace is not written into the collective bargaining agreement. In some cases, a past practice can be as binding on the employer as written contract language is if the following conditions are met: 1) both parties were aware of the practice, 2) the contract is not clear in this area, and 3) the practice has a substantial history.
PERC: Public Employment Relations Commission: “As the Washington State agency with jurisdiction over public sector labor relations and collective bargaining, PERC assists parties in resolving labor-management disputes.”
Proposals: The formalized document used to propose changes during bargaining.
Rank & File: The rank and file of a union refers to the members of our union. The rank and file are where the strength of the labor movement lies and are who makes our companies successful. When the rank and file are organized, they can be successful along with the company.
Ratification: The process of membership voting to adopt a tentatively agreed (TA’d) upon contract. Once ratified contracts go through legislative budgetary approval prior to implementation.
“Right to Work” State: States where unions can’t negotiate agreements that require all employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement to pay for the costs of union representation. Such agreements eliminate “free riders” who enjoy the benefits of an agreement without supporting or joining the union.
Seniority: Preference accorded employees, based on length of service with an employer, in such areas as layoff, recall, promotion, transfer, vacation accrual, scheduling, etc. Steward: Another name for Delegate used by some unions.
Steps: Incremental pay increases that the state agreed to in previous years, to get public employees up to industry-standard pay rates.
TA – Tentative Agreement: When the bargaining team and management/OFM agree on an article, they sign a TA or tentative agreement to notate that there is an agreement. When both sides agreed upon, TA’d all articles that have been discussed, the contract is considered TA’d. Membership is presented the fully TA’d contract to vote on, not individual articles.
Track Changes: Refers to the actual document changes during the bargaining process. We start with the original or current contract language and on a Word Document enable the ‘track changes’ feature to indicate the changes being discussed in bargaining through proposals.
Unfair labor practice: A violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by an employer or a union. When the union believes the employer has violated the NLRA, we file charges against the employer, and the NLRB investigates.
Unilateral Change: Any change an employer makes without the union's consent. The subject of unilateral change is ever changing due to NLRB, PERB and court rulings. However, unilateral change falls into three categories: unilateral change before a first time contract, during bargaining, and during the contract's terms. The NLRB and PERB recognize that an employer must bargain all changes in regards to hours of work, rate of pay, and other conditions of employment with the employee's.
Union Buster: A professional consultant or consulting firm that provides tactics and strategies for employers trying to prevent unionization or decertify unions.
‘What if’ package: Term used to float an idea to management to see if there is interest. This is not an actual proposal. If the parties agree, then an actual proposal is presented.
85/15: This refers to the portion of medical coverage that is paid for by the employer and the portion paid for by the member. The fraction 85/15 means that the employer pays 85% and the member pays 15%. This is over simplified. WPEA does not bargain for the 85/15(Health Care at all) We ‘me too’ the Health Care coalition’s bargaining for this.
Arbitration: If a grievance cannot be resolved through informal channels, it may be taken to arbitration, where a neutral third party (the arbitrator) will hear both sides of the case and make a binding decision.
Bargaining: Process of discussion between management/employer/OFM with the union about the contracts.
Bargaining table: Refers to the members who serve on the bargaining team, also called the bargaining table, because usually the union and management are sitting at a physical table when bargaining.
Bargaining Unit: This is the group of employees that the union represents in negotiations. They typically share similar job duties and work in the same department or unit.
Biennium: Most contracts are in place for two years. This is referred to as the biennium of the contract. You have voted for the contract that will run from July 1st, 2025, through June 30th, 2027.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA): A COLA is a clause in a contract that provides for automatic wage increases to offset inflation.
Contract/CBA: Collective Bargaining Agreement – is a binding contract between two bargaining groups (management/OFM and the WPEA) that outlines provisions of employment, including but not limited to compensation, working conditions, fringe benefits, and grievances.
Collective bargaining: The process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a bargaining unit for a designated period. The parties have a mutual obligation to bargain in good faith to reach agreement for wages, hours, and working conditions.
Concerted Activities: You have the right to act with co-workers to address work-related issues in many ways. Examples include: talking with one or more co-workers about your wages and benefits or other working conditions, circulating a petition asking for better hours, participating in a concerted refusal to work in unsafe conditions, openly talking about your pay and benefits, and joining with co-workers to talk directly to your employer, to a government agency, or to the media about problems in your workplace. Your employer cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten you for, or coercively question you about, this "protected concerted" activity. A single employee may also engage in protected concerted activity if he or she is acting on the authority of other employees, bringing group complaints to the employer's attention, trying to induce group action, or seeking to prepare for group action. However, you can lose protection by saying or doing something egregiously offensive or knowingly and maliciously false, or by publicly disparaging your employer's products or services without relating your complaints to any labor controversy.
Direct dealing: An attempt by the employer to bypass the union and negotiate terms and conditions of employment directly with an employee. This is a violation of the NLRA.
Good Faith Bargaining: Both the union and the employer have a legal obligation to bargain in good faith. This means they must make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement and must not engage in any unfair practices that would obstruct the bargaining process.
Furloughs/temporary layoff: A “furlough” is any time that an employer requires members of its workforce to take unpaid leave. It means you remain employed, but you don’t work, you don’t get paid, and you cannot use accrued time off (vacation, exchange, etc.) to remain in paid status.
In most Washington State union collective bargaining agreements, we don’t use the word “furlough.” Instead, the contracts talk about temporary reductions in work hours or similar language. This is a broader term that includes furloughs. In the WPEA General Government and Higher Education CBA’s, this language is in the Layoff and Recall article.
Informational Picketing: A type of picketing done with the express intent not to cause a work stoppage, but to publicize either the existence of a labor dispute or information concerning the dispute. The law requires the union to give a ten-day notice before doing information picketing in front of health care facilities.
Job Action: A concerted activity by employees designed to put pressure on the employer without resorting to a strike. Examples include wearing T-shirts, buttons, or hats with union slogans, holding parking lot meetings, collective refusal of voluntary overtime, reporting to work in a group, petition signing, jamming phone lines, etc.
Just Cause: A standard or test often applied to determine the appropriateness of disciplinary action. The factors that may be considered in determining just cause include but are not limited to the seven tests of just cause (see handout).
Labor-Management Meetings: Many WPEA/UFCW contracts provide regular meetings of Delegates with representatives of management to resolve problems, exchange information, and hopefully to prevent problems.
Main table: WPEA has many contracts. Some agencies/institutions bargain directly with their employer/management. There are two contracts that bargain collectively for the greater good of those represented. Some of those similar agencies and institutions who bargain with their employer/management rely on or ‘me too’ portions of the bargaining from the main tables.
Higher Education bargains for:
Bellevue College Big Bend Community College
Cascadia College Clark College
Columbia Basin College Edmonds College
Grays Harbor College Olympic College
Pierce College Skagit Valley College
Tacoma Community College Walla Walla Community College
Wenatchee Valley College
General Government bargains for:
Department of Agriculture Department of Licensing
Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth
Department of Licensing Liquor and Cannabis Board
Military Department Department of Natural Resources
Department of Revenue Washington State Patrol
Washington State School for the Blind
Highline College has their own Contract
Management/Employer: the agency or institution you work for and all their representatives (administration, management, leadership, etc.)
Management Rights: Each contract outlines the terms of management rights within their individual contract.
Mediation: Mediation happens when the two bargaining tables cannot make any more forward movement, but there is not a fully TA’d contract to present for ratification, PERC can provide a neutral third-party mediator to assist the teams.
“Me too Clause”: When a bargaining table agrees to certain articles being accepted into their contract, in their entirety, that a different contract will be bargaining. For example, some bargaining tables ‘me too’ the compensation that the main tables bargain for. So, they agree to accept whatever the main table bargains on that article in its entirety.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): An MOU is a written agreement between the union and the employer that may supplement the main collective bargaining agreement. It's often used to address specific issues or to reach an agreement on terms that may not be covered in the main contract.
Mobilize: To bring workers together to help the union achieve a goal as mobilizing members in an institution to protest unfair action by management or during contract negotiation to show that they are in support of the union’s demands, or for rallies in the state capitol to demonstrate for adequate funding for State Employees.
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA): Federal law guaranteeing workers the right to participate in unions without management reprisals. It was modified in 1947 with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act and modified again in 1959 by the passage of the Landrum-Griffin Act.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): Agency created by the National Labor Relations Act, 1935, and continued through subsequent amendments, whose functions are to define the appropriate bargaining units, to hold elections, to determine whether a majority of workers want to be represented by a specific union or no union, to certify unions to represent employees, to interpret and apply the Act’s provisions prohibiting certain employer and union unfair practices, and otherwise to administer the provisions of the Act.
October 1st deadline: In a ‘normal’ bargaining cycle, both parties work to get contracts completed and ratified by October 1st. This provides time to get the contract to the legislation for budgetary approval.
OFM: Office of Financial Management: This Washington State Office that many agencies/institutions contract with to manage contract bargaining. They have many other functions; this is relative to bargaining. OFM bargains contracts with WPEA for Higher Education & General Government.
Past Practice: A customary way of doing things in the workplace is not written into the collective bargaining agreement. In some cases, a past practice can be as binding on the employer as written contract language is if the following conditions are met: 1) both parties were aware of the practice, 2) the contract is not clear in this area, and 3) the practice has a substantial history.
PERC: Public Employment Relations Commission: “As the Washington State agency with jurisdiction over public sector labor relations and collective bargaining, PERC assists parties in resolving labor-management disputes.”
Proposals: The formalized document used to propose changes during bargaining.
Rank & File: The rank and file of a union refers to the members of our union. The rank and file are where the strength of the labor movement lies and are who makes our companies successful. When the rank and file are organized, they can be successful along with the company.
Ratification: The process of membership voting to adopt a tentatively agreed (TA’d) upon contract. Once ratified contracts go through legislative budgetary approval prior to implementation.
“Right to Work” State: States where unions can’t negotiate agreements that require all employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement to pay for the costs of union representation. Such agreements eliminate “free riders” who enjoy the benefits of an agreement without supporting or joining the union.
Seniority: Preference accorded employees, based on length of service with an employer, in such areas as layoff, recall, promotion, transfer, vacation accrual, scheduling, etc. Steward: Another name for Delegate used by some unions.
Steps: Incremental pay increases that the state agreed to in previous years, to get public employees up to industry-standard pay rates.
TA – Tentative Agreement: When the bargaining team and management/OFM agree on an article, they sign a TA or tentative agreement to notate that there is an agreement. When both sides agreed upon, TA’d all articles that have been discussed, the contract is considered TA’d. Membership is presented the fully TA’d contract to vote on, not individual articles.
Track Changes: Refers to the actual document changes during the bargaining process. We start with the original or current contract language and on a Word Document enable the ‘track changes’ feature to indicate the changes being discussed in bargaining through proposals.
Unfair labor practice: A violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by an employer or a union. When the union believes the employer has violated the NLRA, we file charges against the employer, and the NLRB investigates.
Unilateral Change: Any change an employer makes without the union's consent. The subject of unilateral change is ever changing due to NLRB, PERB and court rulings. However, unilateral change falls into three categories: unilateral change before a first time contract, during bargaining, and during the contract's terms. The NLRB and PERB recognize that an employer must bargain all changes in regards to hours of work, rate of pay, and other conditions of employment with the employee's.
Union Buster: A professional consultant or consulting firm that provides tactics and strategies for employers trying to prevent unionization or decertify unions.
‘What if’ package: Term used to float an idea to management to see if there is interest. This is not an actual proposal. If the parties agree, then an actual proposal is presented.
85/15: This refers to the portion of medical coverage that is paid for by the employer and the portion paid for by the member. The fraction 85/15 means that the employer pays 85% and the member pays 15%. This is over simplified. WPEA does not bargain for the 85/15(Health Care at all) We ‘me too’ the Health Care coalition’s bargaining for this.
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