Roughly 5,300 Washington state and community college workers will not receive a scheduled 3% pay raise this July, after their union failed to finalize a new contract before a critical state-mandated deadline.
These workers, represented by the Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA), ratified a new two-year labor agreement on April 3 — well beyond the October 1 deadline required by law for inclusion in the state’s upcoming budget cycle. As a result, lawmakers were unable to incorporate their wage adjustments in the 2025-2027 spending plan.
“It came very, very late in the process, and it would have been quite difficult to respond to,” said Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell, who played a key role in finalizing the budget. “We need these groups to get their work done by the deadline.”
The missed opportunity affects employees across 14 community colleges and nine state agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, and the Liquor and Cannabis Board.
Union leaders have expressed frustration and concern over the implications of the delay. Amanda Hacker, president of the WPEA, said the wage freeze will widen the gap between these workers and their counterparts in both the private sector and other state agencies.
“We are devastated. This amounts to punishing our members for asserting their rights in the bargaining process,” said Hacker. “We’re exploring all possible options to address the immediate harm.”
The path to this setback began last fall when WPEA members overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement on September 30. The offer included 3% and 2% wage increases over two years — now standard among most other public sector contracts — but union negotiators dismissed it as insufficient, initially advocating for a 30% raise to address inflation and rising living costs.
Despite the rejection, the state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) declined to resume negotiations, prompting the union to file a lawsuit to reopen talks. Negotiations resumed in December, and a revised agreement mirroring other state union contracts was eventually ratified in early April — too late to meet statutory budget deadlines.
Washington state law requires public employee union contracts to be finalized and submitted by October 1 to be considered for inclusion in the governor’s proposed budget. While some contracts — such as those involving newly unionized legislative staff — were also finalized after that deadline, lawmakers had more time to address them because they were ratified in December, early in the legislative session.
The final state budget includes 3% across-the-board pay raises on July 1, 2025, followed by 2% increases the next year. It also sets a new minimum wage of $18 per hour for state workers. However, WPEA members ratifying their deal in April will not benefit — at least not yet.
The cost of funding the WPEA contract is estimated at $55.8 million over the next two years, with $18.1 million expected from the state’s general fund, according to OFM projections shared with lawmakers in March.
Sen. Stanford indicated there may be another opportunity for the WPEA to seek funding during the 2025 legislative session. “I’d expect the agency and union to bring it forward next year,” he said.
Hacker said the union is considering alternate ways to secure the raises and is prepared to return to the negotiating table quickly if necessary. “We’re nowhere near done. Our members are angry — and the budget hasn’t been signed yet,” she noted.
To secure any future wage increases, the union must ratify and submit a new agreement to the state by the next October 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, legislative staff in both the House and Senate will receive the same wage adjustments offered to most other state employees. These groups — newly unionized under a 2022 law allowing partisan legislative staff to collectively bargain — finalized their first-ever contracts earlier this year.
While Republican caucus staff ratified their contracts before the deadline, Democratic caucus staff initially rejected proposed agreements, only to approve revised versions in December. The final agreements include 5% wage increases distributed across two years, along with improvements in workplace terms and benefits.
Each of the four bargaining units — Republican and Democratic staff in both chambers — negotiated economic terms collectively while handling workplace matters independently.
As the new fiscal year approaches, the disparity in wage adjustments among public workers highlights the critical role of timing and coordination in the collective bargaining process — and the high stakes when deadlines are missed.
