OLYMPIA – A bill to grant some Washington Management Service (WMS) employees the right to collectively bargain passed the House this week. House Bill 1122, sponsored by Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia), was approved on a vote of 88-8.
Most employees of Washington’s state agencies and institutions of higher education are able to participate in a union and collectively bargain on terms and conditions of employment such as wages and hours. However, the WMS is a separate personnel system for managers within the executive branch of state government and under current law these managerial positions are not able to form a union.
House Bill 1122 grants certain employees in the WMS personnel system the same rights to collectively bargain that other state employees and managers at the city and county level already enjoy.
“The 22nd LD is home to more state employees than any other district in the state. I seek to make Washington state the best place to work possible. This bill helps to do just that. Some employees forego promotions because they don’t want to be promoted out of the ability to collectively bargain. This makes sense when you see that represented employees consistently get salary increases, while WMS employees do not,” said Doglio. “This bill will not only better support our state managers but will also benefit staff recruitment and retention for these managerial positions.”