SEIU Local 668 finalizes three-year labor agreement, ensuring labor peace through mid-2019

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SEIU Local 668, which represents more than 9,000 state government employees, recently finalized its three-year labor contract that is retroactive to July 1, 2016.

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A labor agreement covering more than 9,000 state government employees that took effect on July 1, 2016, is now finalized.

Leaders of the Service Employees International Union Local 668 signed the three-year contract and memorandum of understanding that grew out of a tentative agreement reached late last summer, the union announced on Friday.

"The signing of this contract is a momentous occasion that codifies all the hard work of our members and establishes labor harmony for the next three years," said SEIU Local 668 President Tom Herman.

This union local represents state government employees who work in the departments of Corrections, Human Services, Labor and Industry and other agencies.

The agreement, which includes five separate raises totaling 11.75 percent through the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year, increases the average pay for an SEIU member from last year's $49,502 to $55,591 by the end of the contract.

The first of the raises was a 2.25 percent step increase - or lump sum payment in the case of those at the top of the 20-step salary -  that took effect last October. The next one, a 2 percent general pay increase, is due on July 1.

The Independent Fiscal Office put the price tag on the cost of the contract at $134.9 million over its three-year term but also produces savings from some changes in the employee health plan.

The largest state government employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13, finalized their contract on Jan. 27, according to the governor's Office of Administration spokesman Dan Egan.

* This post was updated to include the information that AFSCME Council 13's contract was finalized in January. It also was updated to correct the average salary of an SEIU-represented employee last year.

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