Lewis County has crossed the finish line in a mad dash to complete collective bargaining agreements with all 14 of its union-represented bargaining units.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners approved a “master labor agreement” and memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Teamsters Local 252 during the board's regular Tuesday business meeting last week.
The agreements establish a uniform labor agreement with terms that apply to four labor groups all represented by the local Teamsters. The board separately approved appendices to clarify salary changes and other unit-specific terms.
The four bargaining units affected represent employees with the Lewis County Assessor’s Office, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, a combined group of county employees from different departments and another combined group of county supervisors.
The board of commissioners approved appendices with terms for three of the groups with the last one — terms for the supervisors group — expected to come in front of the board in the near future, according to Lewis County Human Resources Director Angie Hodge. The exact terms of the final bargaining group are not yet available to the public.
Each of the appendices specifically address, at a minimum, hiring and appointment policies, vacation time and insurance benefits, employee compensation and rules around which positions will be let go first in the event of layoffs.
Employees represented by all four groups saw a 2.7% cost of living salary increase this year, effective immediately and retroactively back to Jan. 1, 2026. In the coming two years, the groups have agreed to tie their salary increases to the regional consumer price index with a minimum of a 1.5% increase and a maximum of a 3.0% increase for their 2027 increase and a minimum of 1.5% and maximum of 3.5% increase for the group’s 2028 salary increase.
All of the collective bargaining agreements signed by the county and its many bargaining units are available to the public on the county website. To view the contracts, visit https://tinyurl.com/bddsmh9d. The page also includes current wages for elected officials and more.
Lewis County Assessor’s Office
The labor agreement terms specific to union-represented employees within the Lewis County Assessor’s Office sets terms for the amount of vacation time that can be accrued, rules around probationary periods for employees and what are often the two biggest ticket items: monthly insurance rates and salary changes.
With the agreed-upon 2.7% increase to salaries from last year, the range of employee salaries in the county assessor’s office will sit at $4,217.70 a month on the low end and $7,700.94 a month on the high end. The low side of the salary range increased significantly from last year to this year with the new labor agreement moving the lowest level employees of the office up a step in the pay schedule.
In 2025, the low end of employee salaries in the office sat at $3,940.00 a month while the high end was at $7,498.00.
The recent increase is comparable to previous increases. The last labor agreement with the assessor’s office group effective from 2022 through the end of 2025 established yearly salary increases around 3%. Assessor’s office employees saw increases of exactly 3% in 2025 and 2024.
Before that, the employees received a 4% salary increase in 2023 and a 2% salary increase in 2022.
Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office Clerical Staff
The labor agreement between the county and clerical workers in the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office is the most slimmed down of those recently approved, including simple protocols for hiring and vacation time and establishing insurance rates and cost of living salary increases.
Just like the rest, the agreement includes cost of living salary increases intended to help employee salaries keep up with inflation. The salary range for clerical employees of the prosecutor’s office is similar to that of the assessor’s office with one exception. The lowest paid employees did not receive a bump up in their pay steps.
With the agreed upon 2.7% salary increases, the clerical workers this year fall within a salary range from $4,046.52 a month on the low side to $7,700.94 a month on the high side. In 2025, the scale ranged from $3,940.00 on the low side to $7,498.00 on the upper end.
Again, like the assessor’s office employees, this group’s salary increase is similar to previous years that have floated around 3%. Just like their counterparts, the clerical employees received 3% salary increases the two years prior and before that received a 4% increase in 2023 and a 2% increase in 2022.
Combined County Employees
The specific agreements with a combined group of county employees from many different departments includes the most specific issues of the three appendices approved last week. The agreement establishes probationary periods for new hires, standards for protective equipment, on-call policies and more in addition to the big-ticket items concerning insurance rates and salary increases.
Employees in this group include those working in IT, community development, public health and social services, public works, facilities and budgeting.
With the agreement for this group applying to employees across many departments and spectrums, it also includes the largest range of salaries. With the 2.7% increase employees in this bargaining unit this year will make anywhere from $3,578.06 a month to $9,056.56 a month on the highest end, which would be paid to the most senior employees in the county.
In 2025, the salary range started at $3,940 a month and capped out on the high end at $8,818.00.
Just like the rest of the bargaining units, the combined group received raises of 3% for the past two years and before that saw a 4% salary increase in 2023 and a 2% salary increase in 2022.
