Lake Washington schools secretaries want a raise
December 2, 2009
By Christopher Huber
By Christopher Huber
School secretaries in the Lake Washington School District are demanding a 10 percent wage increase.
District officials and the union representing approximately 178 secretaries have been negotiating the terms of a new contract since March. The latest contract expired in August.
At its gathering Nov. 10, more than 90 percent of the union’s members voted to tell their bargaining team they would not be willing to ratify any settlement that does not improve their pay by at least 10 percent, a union press release said.
“We‘re just asking for a fair share of the pot,” said Sheila Nokes, past president of the union and current member of the “living wage” campaign steering committee.
A 10 percent raise could cost the district around a few hundred thousand dollars per year based on a 200-day contract.
Even as it is asking for a 10 percent pay increase, the union says a 15 percent raise would still not come close to paying a living wage for some, Nokes said.
A living wage is “the hourly wage and the resources necessary for a person to be a fully functioning member in the community without having to be dependent upon friends, family and government for economic assistance,” according to the union’s Living Wage Calculations sheet for fall 2008.
“The district doesn’t want to discuss Living Wage with us,” Nokes said.
The group bases its request on data collected by the national Living Wage campaign, which has estimated the cost of living in the Lake Washington School District at about $4,000 per month. And according to its calculations, a Lake Washington secretary or office assistant would need to make between $23.05 and $24.55 per hour to be a functioning member of the community.
“I just think I’m worth more money,” said Becky Whelchel, office manager at Inglewood Junior High School. “We want to be able to live in this community.”
She said she’s one of the lucky ones. Her husband makes a good living and they are able to support their daughter. But many of her co-workers and counterparts at other district schools, who are single with children, struggle on their current wages. Some hold down another job or two, she said.
“The district says to us, ‘we’ll give you what we gave everybody else,’” Whelchel said. “I wish they felt we deserved more.”
More may be tough to find. State funding, which makes up the lion’s share of the school budget is already down, and state officials recently predicted that next year’s state budget will be another $2 billion short.
Some school officials say that even cost-of-living adjustments may not be in the cards.
“We are concerned about the potential for another round of major budget cuts from the state after the Nov. 19 announcement on the state budget shortfall,” said Kathryn Reith, the district’s director of communications.
Under the current contract in Lake Washington, union secretaries make from $13.53 per hour to $20.80 per hour.
In the Issaquah School District, school secretaries and support staff start at $15.34 and earn as much as $19.95 per hour. In Bellevue, employees in those positions make between $13.13 and $19.63 per hour. Administrative secretaries and assistants make more in all three districts, but are not on the same contract, according to the districts.
As talks stall and the parties try to find a middle ground, Lake Washington officials are comparing wages for similar positions in districts in the area and of similar size, Reith said.
“As with any of the bargaining groups we work with, our approach to negotiations is to investigate what the wages are for similar positions in other area school districts and use that information to help us figure out what will be a competitive wage that will enable us to recruit and retain quality employees.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
School secretaries in the Lake Washington School District are demanding a 10 percent wage increase.
District officials and the union representing approximately 178 secretaries have been negotiating the terms of a new contract since March. The latest contract expired in August.
At its gathering Nov. 10, more than 90 percent of the union’s members voted to tell their bargaining team they would not be willing to ratify any settlement that does not improve their pay by at least 10 percent, a union press release said.
“We‘re just asking for a fair share of the pot,” said Sheila Nokes, past president of the union and current member of the “living wage” campaign steering committee.
A 10 percent raise could cost the district around a few hundred thousand dollars per year based on a 200-day contract.
Even as it is asking for a 10 percent pay increase, the union says a 15 percent raise would still not come close to paying a living wage for some, Nokes said.
A living wage is “the hourly wage and the resources necessary for a person to be a fully functioning member in the community without having to be dependent upon friends, family and government for economic assistance,” according to the union’s Living Wage Calculations sheet for fall 2008.
“The district doesn’t want to discuss Living Wage with us,” Nokes said.
The group bases its request on data collected by the national Living Wage campaign, which has estimated the cost of living in the Lake Washington School District at about $4,000 per month. And according to its calculations, a Lake Washington secretary or office assistant would need to make between $23.05 and $24.55 per hour to be a functioning member of the community.
“I just think I’m worth more money,” said Becky Whelchel, office manager at Inglewood Junior High School. “We want to be able to live in this community.”
She said she’s one of the lucky ones. Her husband makes a good living and they are able to support their daughter. But many of her co-workers and counterparts at other district schools, who are single with children, struggle on their current wages. Some hold down another job or two, she said.
“The district says to us, ‘we’ll give you what we gave everybody else,’” Whelchel said. “I wish they felt we deserved more.”
More may be tough to find. State funding, which makes up the lion’s share of the school budget is already down, and state officials recently predicted that next year’s state budget will be another $2 billion short.
Some school officials say that even cost-of-living adjustments may not be in the cards.
“We are concerned about the potential for another round of major budget cuts from the state after the Nov. 19 announcement on the state budget shortfall,” said Kathryn Reith, the district’s director of communications.
Under the current contract in Lake Washington, union secretaries make from $13.53 per hour to $20.80 per hour.
In the Issaquah School District, school secretaries and support staff start at $15.34 and earn as much as $19.95 per hour. In Bellevue, employees in those positions make between $13.13 and $19.63 per hour. Administrative secretaries and assistants make more in all three districts, but are not on the same contract, according to the districts.
As talks stall and the parties try to find a middle ground, Lake Washington officials are comparing wages for similar positions in districts in the area and of similar size, Reith said.
“As with any of the bargaining groups we work with, our approach to negotiations is to investigate what the wages are for similar positions in other area school districts and use that information to help us figure out what will be a competitive wage that will enable us to recruit and retain quality employees.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
Other Stories of Interest: Lake Washington School District
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