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News • WSPLA December 14, 2006 The election for Executive Board member was completed in November with the following results: Coral Estes 18 votes and Steve Sutton 33 votes.Thanks to everyone for a great voter turnout. Greg Miller took over as the new WSPLA president on November 30, 2006 after no one was nominated to run against him for President. Thanks to Bill Gardiner for his many years of service to the WSPLA.
Ron Rupke October 29, 2006 In September, the WSPTA Political Action Committee (PAC) – in which the WSPLA has a seat on – conducted a business meeting in Vancouver. During the meeting, our (WSPTA and WSPLA) legislative agenda and priorities were set. They include: The Rate stabilization bill, medical & dental plan (teachers have already pulled away from the State so this will help us acquire our own plan). Members need to understand that we will put many bills forth and that we will push hard to get certain bills through. Rick Jensen stated that we have doubled our participation in political contributions over the past two years. Legislative leadership is asking for our help and now that we are able to help as we have a larger voice. We are now a larger force than WACOPS. Davor Gjurasic gave a report on the No on I-917 campaign and its defeat. If anyone has a question regarding our commitment to the PAC or our future legislative agenda items, please feel free to contact Steve Sutton at steve.sutton@wspla.net. The following is a look forward from Rick Jensen: 2007 Legislative Agenda
By Rick Jensen
Primary Issues
Secondary Issues
Have you had enough of campaign 2006 yet? Seen as many campaign ads on TV to hold you over until next campaign season? Are the campaign yard signs blocking the view from your favorite vantage point?? Well, think about what it is like at WSPTA Headquarters this time of year; the calls for support are endless, the mailbox is constantly full of requests from well meaning candidates and no matter which candidate the Association supports one person is unhappy. Yet, the WSPTA has been more active in campaigns this season than ever before. Thanks to individual contributions and other fund raising programs the Washington State Trooper Political Action Committee (Trooper PAC) has endorsed more that twice as many candidates and has donated almost three times as much money to deserving candidates than during any past campaign season. By the time you read this report the Primary Election results will be known and the field will be set for the General Election. We’ll know if retired WSP Deputy Chief Ed Crawford is still in the mix to be a state Senator; if D-3 Lieutenant Jim Kieghtley is likely to be a member of the House of Representatives; and refreshingly we’ll know if Chief Justice Gerry Alexander survived the most negative campaign for a Supreme Court position ever waged. Wasn’t that something??!! There will be some additional candidates to recognize and support for the General Election and everyone will be informed as to which candidates support the mission of the WSPTA/WSPLA to assist in the decision making process. Why do we do this every two years? Well, there are a number of reasons, all of which are WSPTA/WSPLA Legislative Agenda items. Hopefully we have supported and endorsed candidates and incumbents that will give us an open door and ear on at least the following issues:
September 8, 2006 Hello, I wanted to update you on the recent WSPLA contract ratification vote. The contract ratification vote concluded Thursday September 7, 2006 with 55 of the 59 members voting. Of the 55-voting members, 39 voted for the contract and 16 voted against the contract. Although it is almost impossible to please everyone, I believe we can build from this agreement in our next bargaining session and benefit even more members. We had a great turnout at our two meetings prior to the vote and many ideas for future negotiations were shared. A special thanks to all of the bargaining team members for their hard work and dedication throughout this long and tedious process. Your input has been greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact any board member or myself. Again, thanks for your continued support. Bill Gardiner August 17, 2006 Dear WSPLA Members, Your Association has been bargaining with the Department for the last 4 1⁄2 months in accordance with the recent legislation that granted us collective bargaining for wages. Your bargaining team consisted of three of your board members (Steve Sutton, Ron Rupke, and Greg Miller) and we selected two of your peers for additional representation (Dave Scherf and Wes Rethwill). Our Association Attorney (LeAnn Paluck) invested a tremendous amount of effort looking out for our interests during this process. We are fortunate to have her expertise and experience, and she proved invaluable since she has bargained for our unit for many years. She has a vast amount of knowledge regarding why things are, the way they are, in our current contract. On August 7, after a long and arduous process we reached a tentative agreement. This agreement will now come to each of you for ratification and if our members agree, will become our new contract for the 2007- 2008 biennium. Achieving collective bargaining for wages was a double-edged sword. Although we now have legislation that says we can negotiate, the new law says we have to negotiate with the Governor's Office. This means that our current contract that references negotiating certain non-mandatory bargaining issues must now go through the Governor's Office (OFM) instead of the Department. The change in the law made several articles in our current contract regarding the right to bargain with the department problematic. The Governor selected OFM as her representative and their team consisted of Ms. Diane Lutz (Chief Negotiator), accompanied by Assistant Chief Les Young, Ms. Juliet Jones, and Ms. Pat Marshall. When the bargaining started we presented them with a two-page synopsis of items that we desired for our membership, which were mostly pay related. We were looking for a 10% pay increase for 2007 and 10% again in 2008, education incentive pay (Masters Degree), parity for Lieutenants and Captains who supervise detectives that receive 3%, and some additional items. We were taken aback (as was the WSPTA) when they revised our entire contract. The result was 4 1⁄2 months of going through our current contract line-by-line trying to sort out what is still applicable, what the intent of the change would be, and what we believe to be important to our members. During this entire process, we kept foremost in our mind the future impact of any agreement, and used the "what happens if we have an un-supportive Chief in the Future?” and "how we will ensure that our members are afforded all protections that we currently have?" Your bargaining team approached these negotiations with the philosophy of not selling rights for the prospect of a pay raise. The result of these negotiations turned out to be what we believe is a fair contract. There were several very contentious issues surrounding transfers, employee rights, and the contract as it relates to the Regulation and Administrative Investigative Manuals. We picked out what was important to us, stayed at the bargaining table, and worked through the issues. Mandatory bargaining issues relating to pay and working conditions are dictated by labor law and will always be subject to mandatory bargaining. As most of you know, the WSPTA is currently at an impasse and working through mediation. Although we support their bargaining efforts, we are in a completely different world then them since all Captains are on permanent probation, and all Lieutenants work for their Captains. The contract that is being sent to you has substantial changes from out current contract. Rest assured that the implications of these changes have been examined in excruciating detail in consultation with our legal expert, and that your Board believes that this contract affords our members security and recourse in the event of an unfair practice or change in your working conditions. The compensation package that we agreed to is the best we believe possible during these first negotiations, and we are pleased with the results. This contract will get to you for ratification in time to be funded by the legislature this fall. If the contract is not ratified we will go back to the bargaining table. The proposed increases are as follows:
There will be two ratification meetings in the coming weeks and we hope to see as many of you as possible. We want to be able to answer any questions that would help you understand the details of the agreement.
Thank you all for supporting your Team during this process. Your Board wishes to extend their deep appreciation to Lieutenants Scherf and Rethwill for their commitment to our members in representing you, and to LeAnn for all of her hard work. We hope that you will support this contract and vote for ratification. Greg Miller March 15, 2006 Hello, I wanted to update you on recent WSPLA developments. I am pleased to announce we will be receiving the 2.6% pay raise scheduled for July 1st. After being behind the curve early on, we were able to lobby those in power and bargain for the raise the WSPTA had received. Steve Sutton did a tremendous job informing key legislators on the importance of this raise for our members. A special thanks to Governor Gregoire and Senator Haugen. This would not have been possible without their support. We will be bargaining in April for the upcoming biennium for wage related matters. We would like to hear your ideas for additional compensation. Please e-mail or contact a board member as soon as possible. Some of the ideas to date are stand-by pay, specialty pay, and of coarse a general pay raise. It is interesting to note how far we are behind in pay at the management level from other police departments in the area. We will be meeting with the WSPTA to discuss the agenda for the next legislative session. Already on our priority list is the rate stabilization bill for our pension. Once again, we will sponsor a hole at the upcoming WSPAA/WSPTA golf tournament. We hope to see you there. For details, please visit the WSPTA web site. Finally, a reminder to forward your e-mail addresses to Ron Rupke. You can access updated information on the WSPLA web site (www.wspla.net) and obtain any of the board members e-mail addresses also. Again, thanks for your support. I look forward to seeing all of you at the upcoming membership meeting. We are tentatively looking at a May meeting somewhere in Olympia. I will keep you posted. Bill Gardiner March 6, 2006 As some of you might know the WSPLA was given a window of opportunity recently by the legislature to bargain for a pay increase that had already been agreed upon with the WSPTA. Today your Executive Board met with OFM and reached a tentative agreement which gains our membership the same pay increase as was negotiated with the WSPTA. Please review the “Tentative Agreement” for the details. We are currently in the process of contacting all members for a ratification vote. We are hoping to have the results by Thursday the 9th. The reason for this short turn-around is that the Governor’s Office does not want to sign the bill if it crosses her desk without a ratified agreement. In the coming weeks we will be entering into negotiations with OFM for the next contract which will take effect on July 1, 2007. We anticipate soliciting your input for needed changes to the contract. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email by clicking on the name below the photo of the board member you want to reach on the Executive Board page. Thanks, Ron Rupke February 9, 2006 Greetings everyone. We have had a very busy 2006 already and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the most recent developments. Back in October of 2005, the WSPTA and OFM met to bargain for wages. We were not included in these meetings. 2.6% pay raise was negotiated for the members of the WSPTA. We assumed this would include our membership and even the lobbyists also assumed we would be included. After Steve Sutton discussed this with the Chief, the Chief informed him that we would not receive the raise, and that it would be an unfair labor practice if they included us. Here’s what we know. We are going to get at least 1.6% pay raise. It was the additional 1% that the WSPTA bargained for. Although the Chief seems to think we will not receive the entire raise, we intend to contact key members in the legislature. Already, Steve Sutton has been working hard behind the scenes contacting key legislators and addressing our concerns. The health of the entire organization depends on reasonable pay increases for promotions from one rank to another. We cannot afford to have salary compression between the rank of sergeant and lieutenant. We have also requested our attorney send a letter to OFM and the State Department of Personnel. We also are drafting a letter to send to the Governor and key legislators in both the House and Senate. You have our word that we will do everything possible to secure this needed pay increase. As always, it is a pleasure to work with all of you. Should you need assistance from your association, please do not hesitate to contact one of your board members or myself. Bill Gardiner January 8, 2006 ELECTIONS RESULTS FOR SECRETARY/TREASURER – RON RUPKE 34 VOTES, BILL HILTON 11 VOTES -- GREAT VOTER TURNOUT. When becoming the President of the WSPLA, my main goal was to work closer with the WSPTA. I believe there is power in numbers, and it is in the best interest of both associations to have a united voice on mutually beneficial issues. After many meetings with various WSPTA executive board members, I am pleased to announce we have come to an agreement in which we share the benefits and costs associated with a lobbyist. For less than the cost of our prior lobbyist, we now have the lobbying services of Mr. Rick Jensen and Mr. Davor Gjurasic. These lobbyists have an excellent reputation and shall provide our association the best possible representation in the legislature. For the upcoming session, our priorities shall be the rate stabilization of our pension, survivor benefits, and of course pay raises. Our attorney has almost completed a salary survey of lieutenants and captains vs. similar sized agencies around the state and on the West Coast. We also intend to educate the legislature on the DROP program. All police agencies in Washington State with the exception of the WSP do not have a mandatory retirement age. We intend to lobby the legislature to increase our mandatory age of retirement to 65 years of age. Many of you will wonder why we would have a set retirement age at all, while others can’t imagine working a day over 25 years. It is our belief this “baby step” will be easier to pass, and even though it may not effect you personally, I’m sure there are many commissioned personnel who would welcome this change. As always, it is a pleasure to work with all of you. Should you need assistance from your association, please do not hesitate to contact one of your board members or myself. Bill Gardiner November 7, 2005 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: On October 27, 2005, Congressman Anthony Weiner successfully added the “Internet Police Officers Protection Act” to H.R. 1751, the “Secure Access to Justice and Court Protection Act of 2005” during the markup of the bill in the House Judiciary Committee. H.R. 1751 was passed by the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 26-5 and will soon be reported to the entire House. Back in January of this year, NAPO approached Congressman Weiner with the concern, shared by many of our members, regarding personal information about police officers and their families being accessible to the public on the internet, including names and addresses. NAPO worked with Congressman Weiner and his staff to develop the language of the “Internet Police Officers Protection Act,” and we strongly support all of his efforts to move this legislation forward. Information like this can be very dangerous to law enforcement officers if it gets into the wrong hands. It is vital to prohibit publication of sensitive personal information about police officers on the internet. We ask you to join us in helping got ensure that this important legislation gets passed. Please write to your Representatives in Congress and urge them to support and co-sponsor H.R. 1751. Thank you in advance for all your help! Attached is NAPO's letter approaching Congressman Weiner with the Act. For more information, please contact NAPO's Legislative Assistant Andy Mournighan at 202-842-4420 John Terrill October 21, 2005 To All NAPO Members: Please see the text below in regards to a job opening with the US Senate in regards to investigating the government's preparedness for Hurricane Katrina. This may be more of an opportunity for retired officers, but if you have the time for it, it may be a good experience. *Notice to circulate regarding potential job openings on the Hurricane Katrina investigation* Senate Committee, Majority Staff, is seeking to hire investigators to assist with the Committee's bipartisan investigation of the government's preparedness for and response to Hurricane Katrina. Desired qualifications for investigators include previous investigative experience and a willingness to travel for extended periods of time. Legal training is preferred but not necessary. These positions are temporary and will exist only during the pendency of this investigation (generally 5-6 months). Please fax resume and cover letter to the Chief Clerk at (202) 224-9603. Equal opportunity employer. October 17, 2005 Thanks to all of you who attended the October 6th membership meeting in Olympia. Topics of discussion included pay raises, relationships with the WSPTA, and whether or not we needed to hire a lobbyist this session. Steve Sutton will meet with Fred Fakema and Jeff DeVere to discuss the lobbyist idea more thoroughly. We are very close to an agreement with the Department on the elimination of the two Captain’s positions from Evidence, Records and Inspection. One position will be a Captain’s position in HRD effective August 1, 2006. The other position is the WAJAC Lieutenant. Since the WAJAC job this is a temporary position, if and when it becomes eliminated, the Department agrees to bargain with us for a new position. We have recently met with WSPTA President Tom Pillow to discuss the upcoming legislative agenda. Pay raises, stabilization of the pension rate, the DROP program and medical issues will be our priority. For those that do not know, the short explanation of the DROP program is as follows: You to retire after 25 years. You continue to work for the WSP in your same role. You still collect your full paycheck. Your monthly retirement check that you would have received goes into an account. After x amount of years, you really retire and have a nice nest egg. I realize this isn’t for everyone, but will definitely give you options. Your board members and I have been invited to the November WSPTA Board meeting. Our hope is that we are united this legislative session and work together for common goals. We would definitely like to see this relationship become stronger. By now, all of you have been mailed an election pamphlet since we have two positions open for election. If you nominate someone, make sure they want this position and responsibility. Finally, a special thanks to Ron Rupke. He has done an outstanding job with the accounting and the website. Please inform the WSPLA members you work with to provide Ron with their e-mails. This is an excellent communication tool, but we currently only have half of our memberships e-mails. Again, thanks for your support. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call any board member or me. Remember, this is your association. Bill Gardiner October 5, 2005 Please read this document which has some important information about our brothers and sisters who responded on 9/11. October 3, 2005 Check out the PDF file below for discounts on Apple products including the IPOD, up to 17% in some cases through NAPO. The WSPLA has paid the membership fee for all of our members so anything they indicate as a benefit to NAPO members you are entiled to. LEARN MORE >> Also, check out the PDF file below on special discounts at the Ceasar's Resort in the Poconos for those looking for a nice trip to relaxation. Again, this is a NAPO benefit available to WSPLA members. LEARN MORE >> |
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