Congratulations are in order to the Washington State Council of County and City Employees. Members of Council 2, who work for King County, have voted to forego a cost-of-living increase for 2011.

The union becomes the first to partner with the county to cut county costs and help maintain public services.

According to Council 2 president Chris Dugovich, 69 percent of the ballots returned were voted in favor of the tentative agreement. The new agreement becomes effective on January 1, 2011.

“Saving services for the public and preserving jobs must come first in an economy like this,” Dugovich said in a news release.

He’s right, of course.

However, this will be only one of many steps that the county and its employees will need to take to rein in county expenses. Yet to be fully thrashed out is the cost of benefits that county employees receive and which taxpayers must pay for. Those benefits represent significant costs that the county (read taxpayers) no longer can afford – or want to.

Council 2 represents nine bargaining units and nearly 500 county employees. They provide a wide range of services to the public – from District Court clerks and juvenile court detention supervisors and probation counselors, to building custodians and hazardous waste workers. Now it’s time for the rest of the county’s employees need to sign on to this new reality.

The County Council has put a measure on the General election ballot to raise taxes to help fund public safety. While public safety is critical, there’s no guarantee that voters will approve more taxes since the economy still is in the tank and many businesses and individuals have seen their incomes decline. In fact, no cost-of-living increases and higher employee costs for such things as health insurance probably are more the norm now than not.

No one is happy about the new reality facing workers in the private and public sector. Still, that is the new reality. Like it or not, everyone is cutting back.

Kudos to the workers of Council 2 for taking the first of what likely will be other painful steps. The private sector already has felt the pain.

Craig Groshart, editor of the Bellevue Reporter