This morning, the Council moved out of committee a bill that would officially create the Office of the Employee Ombud to provide assistance to city employees dealing with work-related discrimination or harassment.
Continue reading Council moves forward legislation to create Office of Employee Ombud
On Tuesday, the Council’s Governance, Equity and Technology Committee will take up an ordinance making a big change to its 2015 ordinance granting Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize — and in the process cutting the heart out of the ordinance.
Continue reading Council considers revising ordinance allowing Uber/Lyft drivers to unionize
Only one story today: yesterday’s approval of the police officers’ labor contract.
By an 8-1 vote, this afternoon the City Council approved the tentative labor agreement reached with SPOG, the police officers’ union.
This morning, twenty four community leaders held a press conference to announce that they were collectively urging the City Council to reject the proposed contract with Seattle police officers.
Continue reading Community members urge City Council to reject SPOG contract
This afternoon Judge James Robart held a status conference with the parties in the consent decree between the city and the Department of Justice over police misconduct. The issue at hand: now that the city has negotiated a new police contract, how and when to put that in front of Robart for his blessing.
Continue reading Robart clarifies path forward for SPOG contract
(this article has been heavily modified since it was first published earlier this evening)
This afternoon was the deadline for briefs to be filed by the City of Seattle, the DOJ, the CPC, and other relevant parties related to the tentative labor contract with SPOG, the police officers’ union. Instead, the parties asked Judge Robart to give them until November 2, since he already agreed last week to move a scheduled status conference out to November 5. Robart didn’t respond, so the parties burned the midnight oil and got their briefs in anyway. Also, Inspector General for Public Safety Lisa Judge and OPA Director Andrew Myerberg both sent letters last Friday to the City Council with their feedback on the tentative contract.
Continue reading OPA, OIG, CPC , City, and DOJ weigh in on SPOG contract debate
Today Judge James Robart, the judge overseeing implementation of the consent decree over biased policing by SPD, scheduled a status conference for next Thursday, November 1, to discuss the tentative contract with Seattle police officers.
Continue reading Judge Robart orders hearing on SPOG contract for November 1
This morning, Council member Gonzalez sent her colleagues a memo outlining the path forward for the City Council’s deliberations on the tentative collective bargaining agreement with SPOG, the police officers’ union.
Continue reading Gonzalez identifies next steps on SPOG contract
Last week a fight broke out between the Community Police Commission (CPC) and the Mayor’s Office over the tentative collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with SPOG, the police officer’s union. In the days since the CPC voted last Wednesday to urge the City Council to reject the contract, I’ve talked to both sides to try to understand their perspectives on the contract.
What became clear very quickly is that we can’t understand the CBA without first understanding the legal context surrounding it. Here’s what I’ve learned, and what I think it means for the city’s negotiations with SPOG. Caveat: I am not a lawyer. I am sure those who are will send me notes on where they think my analysis is wrong, and I will do my best to understand their points and update this post to make it more accurate.