WFSE members have been hard at work making DOC a safer and better place to work.

WFSE DOC employees keep communities safe. They deserve respect, fair pay, and safe working conditions. From shop stewards who educate, support, and advocate for their fellow members to activated members getting petitions signed, DOC members are making concrete positive change.

Stay tuned to track the status of negotiations for our 2025-2027 contract.
You can find bargaining updates for the General Government contract, which DOC is a part of, here. 

Interest Arbitration: Arbitrator's Opinion and Award Released

Our Union bargaining team began negotiations with the Employer in April. After numerous sessions, and mediation, we were unable to come to a complete agreement with the Employer, so we took our fight to interest arbitration, where we presented our case to the arbitrator. After weeks of anticipation, we have received the arbitrator’s opinion and award.  While we did not receive everything we proposed, there are major gains to celebrate.

DOCUMENTS & LINKS

• Summary & Highlights of Arbitrator’s Opinion & Award (PDF)
• Arbitrator’s Opinion & Award (PDF)
  
• View more info about the complete General Government Tentative Agreement

ARBITRATION Q&A (Virtual Meeting)

Members are coming together Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6:30pm to discuss and answer questions regarding the details of the Interest Arbitration; WFSE Department of Corrections Bargaining team will be in attendance. Click here to RSVP to the virtual meeting.

Bargaining Update 8 - WFSE DOC Interest Arbitration Closing Message

Your WFSE Corrections Bargaining Team

We have now reached the end of four months of negotiations that began in April. We were able to come to some agreements, but there were still areas where the union and the agency were unable to reach concord.

We continued to try to reach agreement through four days of mediation facilitated by PERC. Following that, we went through five days of arbitration under the auspices of the wise and magnanimous Honorable Paul Roose.

Note: We did not reach agreement on economics, and will be waiting for a decision from the arbiter before October.

Here's the improvements we’ve managed to negotiate so far:

• Art. 3 – Bid system. Clarified the bid system in Reentry Centers and moved to the DOC Addendum.
• Art. 4 – Hiring and Appointments. We did some clean-up in this article, while maintaining our transfer rights.
• Art. 5 – Evaluations. Evaluations will be completed within 60 days of the employee’s anniversary date.
• Art. 6 - Hours of Work – Made DOC-specific and moved to the addendum: Overtime-eligible employees within Reentry Centers will be allowed to exchange full shifts within their work location.
• Art. 7 – Overtime. We created an overtime process that works better for our Reentry Centers.
• Art. 8 – Training and Employee Development. The employee will provide relevant course announcements. The agency agrees to provide minimum standards of training for specialty teams, Community Response Units, transport teams, and other positions where the use of weapons or physical force may be necessary. The employer will provide training necessary or the performance of department positions, and when that training is unavailable in house, the department will provide reimbursement for such training that is necessary for maintaining certification in full time employment. The timeline for processing training requests has been reduced from 30 calendar days to 15 business days.
• Art. 11 – Vacation. We codified the statutory increase of bankable vacation hours from 240 to 280.
• Art. 20 – Safety and Health. We established a Community Corrections and Reentry Security Advisory Committee (CCRSAC).
• Art. 21 – Uniforms, Tools, and Equipment. We heard you, and successfully maintained current standards and did not adopt mandatory uniforms for all field personnel.
• Art. 22 – Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace. We removed the requirement that a blood test be administered following a duty-related shooting.
• Art. 23 – Travel. Travel reimbursements will be processed no later than 10 business days following submission of reimbursement request.
• Art. 24 – Meals. Any Reentry Center worker performing assigned overtime will be provided meals.
• Art. 27 – Discipline. We’ve established timelines on the Investigations process. For investigative interviews, they must be limited to elements pertaining directly to the incident which is the subject of investigation. If the investigator requests an employee sign a statement, the employee may make corrections. If information contained in evidence is proved to be false, the information will be removed from the employee’s personnel file. Any personnel assigned to home as a result of an investigation who would otherwise be available to work, will be paid leave for the duration of the home assignment.
• Art. 29 – Grievance Procedure. The management cannot consolidate grievances without the union’s agreement.
• Art. 32 – Reasonable Accommodations and Disability Separation. Pregnant custody employees who are reassigned to non-custody positions during their pregnancy will retain their current rate of salary.
• Art. 33 – Seniority. Added to the DOC addendum and cleaned up language.
• Art. 34 – Layoff and Recall. When an employee accepts an option that places them in a location that has an unreasonable commute from their current address, the employer will reimburse moving expenses.
• Art. 36 – Employee Rights. We changed the definition of a duty station to reflect what is in the State Administrative and Accounting Manual (SAAM). We incorporated language surrounding telework requests and agreements.
• Art. 37 – Union Management Communication Committees. Incorporated regional UMCC schedules into the article.
• Art. 39 – Union Activities. Created a recognition and identification program for shop stewards. We established a presentation window for labor representatives to present at unit meetings. We established timelines around union information requests (employer must respond within 5 days). We have won release time for up to 3 shop stewards from each Reentry Center and 6 shop stewards from each Section to attend the shop steward conference.
• Art. 42 – Compensation. When implemented, a Corrections Officer Field Training Program will provide participating sergeants with a 3% premium for all hours worked. An Employee Referral Program will provide $250 to the referring employee for outside candidates upon the referred individual’s hire and an additional $250 upon the referred individual’s probation period being completed.
• Appendix C – Layoff Units. Moved to the Addendum.
• Appendix R – Job Classifications with a 12 month probation period. We’ve added Community Corrections Officer 1 and Community and Corrections Officer 1 to allow for time spent in the academy and processing through mandatory arming and Washington Way.
• Appendix S – All employees currently in the Secretary job series will be reallocated to the Administrative Assistant job series.
• We created an MOU to establish a field training officer program for graduates from CCOA.

We did not reach agreement on economics, and will be waiting for a decision from the arbiter before October.

Bargaining Update 7 - Mediation Completed, Onto Arbitration

The bargaining team just concluded mediation after adding several days. OFM failed to address the inequities in compensation and pay you what you deserve! 

Your elected Bargaining Team voted for arbitration which begins 08-14-2024. 

The last and final offer for a General Wage Increase is 2% and 1%. 

OFM is also trying to remove the 3% essential compensation awarded in the last arbitration for 84% of represented members. 

OFM offered the following classification specific changes:

• Community Corrections Officers 1 & 2, two ranges. 
• Community Corrections Officers 3, three ranges 
• Cook 1,2,and 3, two ranges. 
• Food Service Manager 1,2, and 3, two ranges 
• Maintenance Mechanic 1. 2. 3, and 4, two ranges 

Other gains: 

• Pay for performing the duties of a higher classification after 3 business days or more.
• Specialty Team pay for CISM, Peer Support, Honor Guard, and DIMT will get 5% for all hours worked. 
• Timeline for completing annual evaluation, 60 days or its considered good. 
• Shift exchanges for Re-Entry Center Employees 
• Overtime process for Re-Entry Center Employees 
• Department will be required to provide relevant training announcements 
• Minimum Standards for training, policies, assignments for specialized assignments and required duties

Issues moving to Arbitration:

• General Wage Increase 
• Classification Specific Increases for all classifications 
• Pay for specialized caseloads 
• Educational Incentive 
• Parking for all employees 
• Assignment pay 
• Workplace behavior-full scope of the grievance process 
• Vaccine Booster Incentive

Find statewide actions here and RSVP!

Bargaining Update 6 - Last Session Before Mediation

Bargaining Update 5 - Compensation Proposal!

Bargaining Update 4

Bargaining Update 3

Bargaining Update 2

Bargaining Update 1