Seattle Reaches Tentative Vaccine Agreements With Employee Unions

SEATTLE — The city of Seattle reached tentative agreements Friday with many of its employee unions, establishing the policies for how each will implement the vaccination requirements for public workers. A separate agreement authorizes frontline worker pay, which will provide up to $1,750 to current employees that had to work in person during the pandemic.

Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the deals Friday, including agreements reached with the Coalition of City Unions, Seattle Fire Fighters Union Local 27, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77.

According to the mayor's office, negotiations have been underway for weeks to create a uniform set of policies for the city's employee vaccine mandate in time for the Oct. 18 deadline. Durkan announced the city-level requirement in early August, following Gov. Jay Inslee's order for state employees and health care workers.

"[A]s the Delta variant spreads, it's crucial that we take bold, science-based actions to protect our workforce, our families, and the communities we serve," Durkan said in a statement. "A vaccination requirement and frontline worker pay is the right thing to do for our workforce. Our unions advocated hard for our workers, and I'm grateful for the efforts to reach these Tentative Agreements that put forward new policies to protect the health, safety, and vitality of our workforce."

Employees who fail to reach full vaccination status by Oct. 18 will have the option to use leave to get immunized in lieu of termination. The mayor's office intends to transmit legislation to City Council next week to formally authorize the frontline worker pay.

Here's what's included in Friday's tentative agreements, per the city:

• Incentive Time: Each employee who submits their Vaccination Confirmation Form on or before October 5 showing they will be fully vaccinated by October 18, 2021, will receive eight hours of paid time off.
• COVID-19 Supplementary Paid Leave: Each employee will receive 40 hours of a new COVID-19 Supplementary Paid Leave for COVID-19-related reasons. Each employee who confirms full vaccination by October 18, 2021, will receive an additional 40 hours of the new COVID-19 Supplementary Paid Leave for a total of 80 hours.
• Confirmation, exemption, accommodation and separation processes: It establishes agreements on processes and employment status with the goal to achieve employees being fully vaccinated as a priority, which include employees who can begin the vaccination process by October 18 and use applicable leave until they become fully vaccinated.

While the Seattle Police Management Association was included in Friday's agreement, as a member of the Coalition of City Unions, notably absent from the deals was the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, which represents approximately 1,300 officers and sergeants. According to the mayor's office, bargaining with SPOG is continuing separately, "since the parties have not been able to reach an agreement at this time."

Earlier this week, King County announced agreements with unions representing an estimated 95 percent of its employees, which functionally extended their final vaccination deadline to Dec. 2.