State wins union lawsuit: Gregoire can shelve contracts, judge says

Gov. Chris Gregoire should have done things differently in negotiating with state employee unions, but her decision to shelve new contracts with the unions stands, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch said Wednesday.

Gregoire confused the process when she had her budget director serve as both the negotiator and the person who later declared that contracts for raises and health benefits were financially unreasonable, the judge said.

But the governor does have the power to back out of contracts after the Oct. 1 deadline to finish talks, Hirsch said, noting the law separately requires the budget office to certify them as feasible.

"I think (the decision) just muddies things further," said Greg Devereux, executive director of the Washington Federation of State Employees.

The union will appeal the decision, but it also must come to an agreement by the time the next two-year budget cycle starts in July, he said.

"The clock is ticking, and we have to resolve our contract by the end of the session," Devereux said.

Facing a recession and dropping tax income, Gregoire did not include the union's contracts, worth $324 million, in her proposed budget to the Legislature.

The union asked the judge to order Gregoire to forward the contracts to lawmakers, saying that if she didn't, there would be no way under the law to renegotiate.

The federation's attorney argued in court that Office of Financial Management Director Victor Moore effectively certified the contracts as possible when he agreed to them in September.

The judge disagreed, saying, "I find no evidence in the record before me that the act of completing collective bargaining constituted the independent act of certification required by the statute."

Hirsch added, however, that Gregoire and former Gov. Gary Locke apparently didn't follow the law in the previous two contract negotiations, because they never certified those contracts as possible. Gregoire's decision to hold the latest deals was the first time that part of the law was used.

"I don't think the reasoning makes sense," said Paul Drachler, an attorney with Service Employees International 1199NW. The union represents state nurses and has a similar case pending in King County.

If Hirsch is correct, then the unions can't know whether their contracts will be honored when workers vote on them in the fall, Drachler said.

"The only way this process means anything is if the parties are held to their agreement," he said.

Gregoire's office, however, successfully argued that the collective-bargaining law allows her to shelve contracts if the state's finances change significantly after she agrees to them.

The governor did not include any general raises in her proposal, which sought to bridge a $6 billion gap over two years.