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April 9, 2001
Sims pleased his productivity initiative supported
King County Executive Ron Sims said he is very pleased the County Council has adopted his innovative "productivity" program that reflects the cooperative effort of management, labor and employees, and he thanked Councilmembers Larry Gossett and Kent Pullen for their leadership in getting this adopted unanimously by the Council.
The productivity initiative will cut operating costs, increase productivity, and continue a high level of service and environmental protection to County residents, Sims said. The pilot program allows employees to use business practices like those in private industry, and typifies the practices Sims’ expects King County to be pursuing in the future. The Productivity Initiative Pilot Plan is a joint labor, management and employee effort in the wastewater division that could save ratepayers as much as $67 million cumulatively over 10 years. Later this year, a plan will be sent to the King County Council with capital savings that will complement this program.
“With the help of employees and our unions, we will be operating like a private business,” said Executive Sims. “Employees will have the freedom to operate their business with specific productivity goals and business targets, and must show us that they can be more efficient without compromising our high standard for protecting public health and the environment.”
The goal of the program is to make King County’s wastewater treatment program the most efficient publicly operated such system in the nation within the next five years and to be competitive with the industry’s best private operations within 10 years. The Productivity Initiative Pilot Program is the result of the cooperative effort begun in 1999 with three unions that represent wastewater workers. They are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) AFL-CIO, Local Union 6; International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 117 and; the Washington State Council of County and City Employees AFL-CIO, Council 2.
Sims cautioned that the targeted savings are based on the Year 2000 Budget with assumptions of three- percent inflation each of the 10 years. Base figures would be adjusted for a rate of inflation higher than three percent or for extraordinary costs of needed commodities to run the plant, such as electricity.
Updated: April 9, 2001
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