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 …
Continue readingCategory: labor
New police contract hits a landmine: the CPC
This morning the Community Police Commission signaled their unhappiness with the tentative labor contract with Seattle’s police officers, voting unanimously to urge the City Council to reject the contract and to investigate asking the judge overseeing the consent decree to enjoin the city from implementing it.
Continue readingNew police officer contract released, sent to Council for approval
Today the Mayor’s Office transmitted to the City Council the new contract negotiated last month with the Seattle Police Officers Guild, in the process releasing it to the public for the first time.
Continue readingPolice officers union approves proposed contract
This afternoon it was announced that the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild has “overwhelmingly” approved a new proposed contract with the city.
Continue readingNotes from today’s Council meetings
There was a lot happening today. New department directors, new protections for domestic workers, support for dairy workers, discussion of the proposed Waterfront LID, and what SPD is doing about recent “shots fired” incidents in the Central District.
Continue readingCity agrees not to enforce part of I-124 while lawsuit progresses
Last month ERIC, an industry association, sued the City of Seattle over a portion of Initiative 124 that requires companies to either provide gold-level healthcare to hotel workers or compensate them accordingly. Yesterday, the City of Seattle and ERIC filed with the court an agreement that the city would not attempt to enforce that provision of I-124 until January in exchange for an extension of time to file its legal brief in defense of the ordinance.
Continue readingInitiative 124 draws another legal challenge
Last week, the ERISA Industry Committee (aka ERIC) filed a new legal challenge to a section of Initiative 124, which provides protections to hotel workers.
Continue readingAppeals court affirms dismissal of Uber drivers’ lawsuit
This year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has heard two challenges to the City of Seattle’s ordinance authorizing collective bargaining for Uber and Lyft drivers. One was filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the other by a group of Uber and Lyft drivers. After back-to-back oral arguments in February, the appeals court ruled on the Chamber of Commerce case in May; it found that the ordinance was not exempt from the Sherman Antitrust Act. Today it handed down its ruling in the second case, affirming the district court’s dismissal of the case — a win for the …
Continue readingSawant tries to fast-track two bills, gets pushback from her colleagues
This afternoon Council member Kshama Sawant introduced two bills: a resolution related to EMT wages, and an ordinance to save the Showbox. She wanted to get the resolution passed this afternoon and the ordinance next Monday, but the her colleagues on the Council had other thoughts.
Continue readingDomestic workers’ bill of rights passes out of committee
As expected, this morning the “Domestic workers’ bill of rights” passed out of committee with much fanfare and no opposition.
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