Members who work at Education Northwest have a reached a three-year agreement on their contract! After negotiations began back in September, the Education Northwest Bargaining Team scheduled weekly unity breaks that were heavily attended throughout the campaign and led to over a dozen members attending multiple bargaining sessions.

During the course of the campaign, membership grew by nearly 20 percent, allowing the team to bargain with a majority membership for the first time since being a union shop!

Highlights of the agreement include:

• 2.5 percent cost-of-living increase retroactive to January 1, 2018; 2.5 percent increase on January 1, 2019; and 3 percent increase on January 1, 2020.
• Increased pay scales by 5 percent in the first year of the agreement and market increases with a minimum of 1.5 percent for years two and three.
• Protected healthcare contributions.
• Improved layoff language.
• Language that protects workers’ hours, guarantees a staffing chart and ensures regular meetings between staff and supervisors.

The contract was ratified unanimously on January 31. Congratulations to bargaining team members Patti Tucci, Angela Roccograndi, Stacy Kehoe, Jason Greenburg Motamedi, Jacob Williams, and ALL the SEIU 503 members who helped win at Education Northwest.