By Jim Cline
This is the third 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 Howell Lankford concerning InterCity transit operators in Thurston County.
The Employer argued fiscal constraints citing a decline in sales tax income which funds the transit operations. The Employer also argued that its existing “me too” clause with its mechanics union was an additional fiscal constraint, though, the Arbitrator rejected that claim, noting:
“An employer is, of course, free to enter into a “me-too” agreement in order to assure union No. 1 that it will not fall further behind union No. 2. But such an agreement does not turn any resulting required increases to union No. 1 employees into costs attributable to a subsequent union #2 contract. Such a “me-too” agreement is purely the employer’s choice, regarding which union #2—in this case, ATU—had neither a voice in bargaining nor any benefit received.”
Nonetheless, the Arbitrator did find some of the Employer’s other economic arguments (including the state of the Olympia economy and the State government budget) compelling enough to hold that no wage increase would be awarded in 2012, the first year of the contract. He allowed a CPI based increase for 2013 and 2014, but capped it at 5% over the two year period. Lankford did cite the “Van Operators” pay as lagging behind the market, so they did receive a separate .75% increase in 2012.
The Arbitrator also addressed a number of other operating issues, including bidding and vacation scheduling.
This decision reflects a middle of the road “split the baby” type award not uncommon in arbitration. The Transit District had some significant fiscal limitations given its heavy reliance on sales tax revenues and the operators had received some wage increases during the preceding Great Recession years. The decision to award no increase in the first year, followed by moderate increases in the second year, would not be outside the expected results based upon the described financial situation.
