Competitive Compensation...

Maximum salaries will top $80,000 in Snohomish

Commitment by Snohomish EA members during the 2002 strike has continued to pay cash dividends in later contract talks.

Just a few years after going on strike, Snohomish teachers have negotiated a new contract that will put their top salaries at over $80,000 a year by 2009-10.

In a unique early settlement, Snohomish teachers ratified a collective bargaining agreement that will provide at least a 5.7 percent salary increase next school year.

The new collective bargaining agreement between the Snohomish Education Association and the Snohomish School Board includes locally funded salary increases of 2 percent a year for three years, in addition to any state-funded salary increases. (Next year's state-funded cost-of-living adjustment will be 3.7 percent, if not higher.)

"With this agreement, it will be eight years that we've gotten an annual 2 percent increase from the district," said Kit Raney, Snohomish Education Association president. "That's a pretty big deal."

Unlike some of its neighboring districts, Snohomish is not grandfathered on the state salary allocation model, which means it receives the same state salary funding as most districts in the state.

Most WEA locals with open contracts are just beginning to negotiate new agreements. John Morrill, who negotiated the Snohomish settlement, said the early agreement was unique and would not be successful in most districts. Following the 2002 strike, the district's administration made a commitment to solving issues via a labor-management committee, focusing contract negotiations primarily on compensation.

The new Snohomish contract also includes total additional district funding for health insurance of $131 per full-time employee in the first year, increasing each year thereafter.

"That's a huge amount from the district," Raney said.

Dozens of WEA locals across the state are negotiating new collective bargaining agreements this year. Work load, salaries and benefits continue to be major issues.

Reach WEA Editor Linda Woo at lwoo@WashingtonEA.org, via postal mail at WEA, PO Box 9100, Federal Way, WA 98063-9100; phone 253-765-7027 (or toll-free outside Seattle-Tacoma: 800-622-3393 ext. 7027); or fax 253-946-7612. We welcome story ideas, letters to the editor and suggestions for improving WE-Washington Education, or WEA Online.