Labor offers olive branch to King County

Labor leaders pledged Wednesday to work with officials to help cash-strapped King County "contain costs and improve efficiencies," but stopped short of saying they would accept more concessions in wages and benefits.

"The King County Coalition of Labor Unions understands the difficult budget situation facing all local governments and respects that changes are necessary to ensure King County's financial stability now and in the future," coalition leaders said in a written statement.

Dustin Frederick, business manager of the Service Employees International Union's Public Safety Employees Local 519 and co-chair of the labor coalition, read the statement aloud at the Metropolitan King County Council's annual "labor summit" at the Labor Temple in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood.

Frederick said in an interview later that unions are reluctant to make concessions before the county completes a study this year comparing compensation in county jobs with other workplaces.

County Executive Dow Constantine, who has set a goal of reducing long-term spending growth to the rate of inflation plus population increase, said after the meeting, "I really appreciated the coalition's forward-thinking statement of cooperation and partnership with us. They recognize that we're in the same boat, facing tough economic realities."

Whether labor's olive branch is enough to satisfy council members who have blasted "gold-plated" employee benefits and questioned Constantine's proposed sales-tax increase may be seen Thursday, when the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee decides whether to recommend the full council put the tax proposal on the Aug. 17 primary ballot.

If approved by the council and voters, the sales tax on most purchases in King County would rise by two-tenths of a cent. That would make the sales tax 9.7 cents on a $1 purchase, 10.2 cents in restaurants and bars.

Without the tax, the county's $629 million general fund faces a $60 million shortfall next year and, in Constantine's words "some fairly drastic cuts next year and the following year."

Balancing the budget without the tax would mean cutting departments' spending by as much as 10 to 12 percent below next year's cost for current services, Budget Director Dwight Dively said. Courts, the Sheriff's Office and other criminal-justice agencies would take big hits because they make up 76 percent of the budget, he said.

Dively has asked departments to find "productivity savings" amounting to 3 percent of their budgets whether or not the tax is approved.

Labor leader Frederick welcomed the upcoming county study that will compare employee wages and benefits with the broader market. "We're not afraid of the truth," he said, adding that labor leaders believe total compensation to county workers is competitive with both public- and private-sector employees.

Employees have helped the county deal with its budget problems by taking 10 days of unpaid furloughs last year and picking up $39 million in health-care costs over three years starting this year, Frederick said.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com