New video broadens government transparency debate
SEATTLE—While intense media scrutiny has focused on the exemption Washington state lawmakers have given themselves in public disclosure requirements, little attention has been paid to another area of government unfairly locked away from public view: public employee collective bargaining negotiations. Despite Washington’s broad open-government laws and hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars at stake, lawmakers in Washington have crafted an exemption to public disclosure for collective bargaining negotiations with public employees.
Today Washington Policy Center (WPC) released a new video to draw attention to the lack of public transparency in these negotiations. In 90 seconds, the video lays out the problem, where it came from, and who this lack of transparency harms. Citizens, members of the media, and rank and file public employees deserve to know what collective bargaining offers have really been on the table. Idaho and Oregon already require transparency, so Washington stands alone in the Pacific Northwest.
“This should be a simple task,” said Erin Shannon, WPC’s director for the Center for Worker Rights, “There really is no excuse for keeping the public in the dark. If Idaho and Oregon can do it, we can too.”
“Government collective bargaining agreements represent significant taxpayer investment yet are negotiated in secret,” remarked Jason Mercier, WPC’s director for the Center for Government Reform, “The people deserve to know what is being negotiated on their behalf.”
You can watch the new video here, or click the image above.