It is mid-July and we STILL do not have an approved contract. City of Bellingham elected leaders: MAKE CONTRACT SETTLEMENT A PRIORITY! The increases that the city has paid in the past and is proposing for 2024-2025 do not keep up with the Cost of Living (COLA).
Many of our members do not make a living wage. How can the city expect us to work in and for a city we can’t even afford to live in? This creates additional climate impacts in addition to the social impacts to our members.
The city of Bellingham annually adjusts utility rate increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U. This is spelled out in the Bellingham Municipal Code for water, sewer, surface and stormwater charges.
For labor negotiations, Human Resources uses a custom calculation that they came up with more than 40 years ago. Instead of using the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U to determine inflation rates, like they do when determining how much to raise utility rates, they use a combination of four different indexes and then take the average. The indices they use are: Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-W, US City Average CPI-U, and US City Average CPI-W. By using this system, we believe the city tries to justify to themselves that they can pay employees less.
Local 1937 is the city’s largest bargaining unit with over 400 members. Our workers are some of the lowest paid city employees. Some Local 1937 members don’t even have medical benefits. We are the workers that bring you clean water, get rid of your wastewater and generally make Bellingham such a great place to live. We deserve fair treatment and livable and equitable wages!
Here are some of the things we do for the citizens of Bellingham:
Park Operations & Maintenance | Street Sweeping | Police Evidence & ID | Sewer & Water Main emergency repair |
We process your invoices for payment! | Traffic Sign & Signal maintenance | Wastewater Treatment | Facility Security |
Aquatics Center | Stormwater Education | Construction Inspection | Utility Billing |
Water conservation | Cemetery Services | Warrant Officers | Permit Review & Issuance |
We make sure you have clean drinking water! | Police Support Services | Boat Inspections | Electricians |
Municipal Court Clerks | Community Service Officers | Museum Exhibits | Engineering Support |
Library Services | Custodial Services | Facility Maintenance | City Historian |
Property Acquisition & Leasing | Rental Registration | Fleet Mechanics | Housing Rehabilitation |
IT/Internet Support | CityIQ, SeeClickFix, BTV10 | Warehouse/Purchasing | We answer the phone when you call the city! |
Our contract expired December 31, 2023.
Questions?
pnweguild@gmail.com