Miscellaneous

It Looks Good on Paper: Washington Clerks Await Raise

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Did you ever get a raise, but didn't know when you'd actually see the result?

It happens. In Snohomish County, Washington, court clerks have been negotiating a new salary and benefits package since 2004.

A new contract was approved by the County Council. If the County Executive signs it, it goes into effect. Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board.

We often bemoan the state of judicial salaries, forgetting that there are others running the court who also are underpaid. These clerks have not gotten any increase since 2004, not a great deal in these hard times.

The clerks will not receive any retroactive pay. Like everyone else in the world, their medical insurance payments have gone up. Needless to say, labor relations are strained.

The new plan would decrease medical payments, raise salaries (catapulting clerks into the whopping $30,800-65,000 range), and give a $4,500 check to employees who have been hanging around since 2001.

See Court Clerks Wait for Last Step in Contract, Jeff Switzer, Daily Herald (June 26, 2008).

Bonus points (which also only look good on paper) for anyone who can correctly pronounce "Snohomish."

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on June 26, 2008 (boomark / email).