Part 8: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Does Geography Impact Settlements?

Part 8: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Does Geography Impact Settlements?

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This article continues are series on recent contract settlement trends. It uses city police 2022 settlements as the data source, but these trends seem to apply generally to other public safety occupations. In this article we cover the impact of location on contract settlements.

[Read more…]

Part 7: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Recent Pattern in Contract Settlements

Part 7: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Recent Pattern in Contract Settlements

Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This article continues our series on recent developments influencing contract negotiations. One of the most important influences on contract negotiations (and arbitration) is contract settlements, especially among comparable jurisdictions. There have been some unusual patterns that have developed in Washington public safety labor negotiations, and these seem to be highly influenced by external economic events.

[Read more…]

Part 6: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Shifts among Local Government Revenues

Part 6: Current Negotiation Issues and Trends — Shifts among Local Government Revenues

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

In the last couple of articles in this series, we discussed the state of local government revenues and their potential impact on negotiations. In this article, we discuss how the differences between the structure of local economies can impact negotiations. We also discuss some significant shifts in revenue distribution that have occurred in recent years, especially since the pandemic.

[Read more…]