As it currently stands, both the state House and Senate budget proposals fully fund the pay raises provided for in the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) negotiated by Gov. Jay Inslee and unions representing state employees last year.

The Senate’s budget makes funding of the CBAs contingent upon passage of SB 6126, which contains a package of reforms to the collective bargaining process, including requiring future contract negotiations to be open to the public. The House budget, in contrast, funds the CBAs unconditionally.

Either way, however, state employees aren’t the only ones that will be getting a pay raise. Union executives stand to profit considerably as higher state employee pay translates into more dues.

Typically, union dues are based on a percentage of employees’ pay. So when state employees are paid more, the union’s cut increases as well. According to Washington State’s Human Resource Office, about three-quarters of state employees are covered by CBAs.

While it is difficult to estimate precisely how much more government unions will make because of the pay raises, the Freedom Foundation has assembled some ballpark numbers.

• According to our estimation, the Senate’s 2015-2017 biennial budget proposal contains funding for about $534 million in higher pay, compensation and expenses as required by CBAs.
• Of this, about $12.5 million in dues and fees will be deducted from public employees’ paychecks by the state and sent directly to labor unions.
• About $4.6 million will then be spent by labor unions on political activity and other activity unrelated to collective bargaining.

A more detailed accounting of these numbers is available here.

Items in red are unsourced estimates, while sources for all other numbers can be provided upon request. Information was compiled from the Proposed Senate 2015-17 Operating Budget, union LM-2 reports to the U.S. Department of Labor, and various union financial statements to nonmembers as required by Chicago Teachers v. Hudson.