Seattle (October 15) – Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan transmitted the proposed six-year tentative agreement with Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG) to City Council for final approval. While the cost of living has significantly risen in recent years, Seattle Police officers have been working since 2014 without a contract. In September, 96% of membership of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild voted in support of the contract, and last week, the agreement was advanced to full Council by the Labor Relations Policy Committee. The full legislation is available here.
“One of my priorities was negotiating a fair contract for Seattle police officers, who have been working without a contract since 2014. Even as homes, groceries and gas has become more expensive in our city, our officers continued to keep our residents, neighborhoods and businesses safe. At the same time, they have served as a model nationwide by bringing SPD into full and effective compliance with the federal consent decree,” said Mayor Durkan. “This contract is critical to meeting the public safety needs of every neighborhood and community in our city and continue the important job of reform while helping ensure Seattle can hire and retain the best police officers.”
“The men and women responding to 911 emergency calls have been receiving wages at 2014 levels while other police departments have adjusted their pay to meet the increased cost of living,” said Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. “Low unemployment and less than competitive pay has made it more difficult for us to recruit new police officers. This contract will help us meet the staffing and public safety needs of the city we serve.”
“The Seattle Police Officers Guild would like to thank Mayor Jenny Durkan, who inherited this ‘contract mess’ from her two predecessors, who unfortunately, did not choose to respect the labor laws of Washington,” said SPOG President Kevin Stuckey. “From the onset, Mayor Durkan made getting a new SPOG contract a top priority and her team followed her leadership and got the work done at the bargaining table.”
“This agreement constitutes progress toward reform under our federal consent decree,” said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes. “Kudos are owed to those who labored long hours to hammer out this long-awaited contract.”
The six agreement provides retroactive pay to Seattle police officers for the last four years as well as continues cost of living increases officers in 2019 and 2020, making Seattle officers the fourth highest paid of the seven largest departments on the West Coast. The Accountability Reform legislation, which passed Council in 2017, is now bargained for in this agreement and the agreement includes many key provisions including:
- Full implementation of body worn cameras by front line officers;
- Management improvements in transfers and performance evaluations;
- Improvements and clarity for the 180 timeline for investigations of police complaints;
- Civilianization of OPA supervisor positions and a HR leadership role in SPD;
- Office of the Inspector General provided full and unfettered access to fulfill duties under the accountability; and
- The Guild will withdraw several pending Unfair Labor Practice claims.