Elizabeth New (Hovde) shares an opinion column about private salary negotiations between the state and public employee unions

Elizabeth New (Hovde)
Washington Policy Center

Should salary negotiations between the state and public employee unions be private? No. They help no one. I wrote an opinion column about this with Jason Mercier, vice president at Mountain States Policy Center, and Jackson Maynard, executive director of the Citizen Action Defense Fund. It ran in a handful of publications this week. Find it here or here.

I’ll have another blog out soon about Tuesday’s “Walkout for Washington.” This public employee action was organized by the Washington Federation of State Employees to protest state salary offers. The crazy thing about the walkout is that union members involved in it don’t even know the details of the pay-increase proposals or the negotiating that is in play. Stay tuned.

Elizabeth New (Hovde) is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.

---

Also read:

• 
  Opinion: State worker contract secrecy benefits no one
  Elizabeth New Hovde argues that private salary negotiations between the state and public employee unions benefit no one and should be more transparent.
• 
  Opinion: Election prep – Governor and lieutenant governor
  Nancy Churchill discusses the duties of Washington’s governor and lieutenant governor, introducing Republican candidates Dave Reichert and Dan Matthews.
• 
  Letter: ‘We must band together and make difficult choices’
  Anna Miller invites the community to attend the CCRW Sept. 19 dinner meeting with Washington GOP Chair Jim Walsh and Republican candidates.
• 
  Opinion: The facts on I-2019, the possible repeal of Washington’s Income tax on capital gains
  Paul Guppy discusses the possible repeal of Washington’s income tax on capital gains and its effects on the state’s economic future.
• 
  Letter: The IBR’s deadly bribe
  Retired engineer Bob Ortblad raises safety concerns about the I-5 Bridge replacement project, highlighting risks with crosswinds and the double-decker buses.