COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TRANSPARENCY IS SPREADING ONE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT A TIME

As Douglas County prepares to have a hearing on Feb. 18 to discuss making their collective bargaining process more transparent, union leaders opposing transparency will be descending on the rural Eastern Washington town of Waterville to make a show of force.

What tired arguments will the unions bring to oppose this commonsense policy? Some of their favorite arguments against transparency are:

“The Freedom Foundation supports it, so it must be bad”
“Nobody negotiates in public”

“It will hamper the process” “It’s a recipe for gridlock”

In the 22 states that allow more public transparency with negotiations, including Idaho and Oregon, they are not having the imagined problems unions in WA are afraid of. We aren’t having any of the imagined problems here in WA where local governments are already doing it. “Opening our meetings to the public seemed to bring the tone down, and I believe contributed to a quicker and more civil conclusion.” – Sunshine Pray Superintendent Soap Lake

Whatever poor arguments are made, it is important to remember, the only people who want these meetings to remain closed are those who do not want to be accountable for their actions at the bargaining table.

Increased transparency exposes bad actors and helps eliminate the ability of one side to mischaracterize the behavior and positions of the other side. The appearance of a conflict of interest for union-supported elected officials is reduced, and an accurate representation of proceedings with recorded audio, video, or notes simplifies and improves subsequent interpretation of agreements.

Hopefully, the Douglas County Commissioners stand fast against the pressure of organized bullies who demand our elected officials engage in secret meetings to negotiate how much of the taxpayer’s money will be distributed to the very organizations calling for secrecy.

Local Governments Transparency Timeline

Nov. 5, 2019 — Spokane City residents approved a ballot initiative to amend their charter to open their collective bargaining to the public.
July 22, 2019 — Gig Harbor passes a resolution to conduct collective bargaining open to the public in person or video to the extent the law allows.
May 8, 2019 — Kennewick School District amended policy 5020, which guides their collective bargaining to take the position that the District prefers bargaining to be done publicly, but will defer to what the union wants.
Feb. 27, 2019 — Centralia School District adopted a transparency policy to live stream and archive videos of their collective bargaining.

Dec. 11, 2018 — Spokane County became the largest local jurisdiction to pass a policy opening their collective bargaining process to public observation.  Commissioner Josh Kerns has an important video message to all elected officials: “Craft a resolution that fits your local government.”
April. 23, 2018 — Soap Lake School District passed a resolution and has completed two contract negotiations publicly.
April. 23, 2018 —Royal School District passed a resolution making their contracts negotiations public.
Nov. 7, 2017 — Kittitas County became the first local government to pass an ordinance opening their collective bargaining process to public observation. They also became the second local government to successfully conclude a contract negotiation in public, with an AFSCME-affiliated bargaining unit.
July 11, 2017 — Tukwila School Board passed a resolution to open their collective bargaining meetings to the public. (Later rescinded)

March 6, 2017 — Ferry County passed a resolution similar to Lincoln County. Despite receiving a letter from an AFSCME-affiliated union stating they would refuse to negotiate in public, a new contract has taken place without incident.
Jan. 25, 2017 — The Pullman School Board voted to open their collective bargaining meetings to public observation. Since then, they have successfully negotiated four WEA-affiliated contracts publicly.
Sept. 7, 2016 — Lincoln County became the first local government to pass a resolution to open its collective bargaining contracts to the public.

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