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Washington · Telephone Line Worker (Outside) · 39 counties

Telephone Line Worker (Outside) prevailing wage, King County group, Washington (39 counties)

L&I sets the same outside telephone line worker rates, row for row, in 39 counties: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom, Whitman and Yakima. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.

$40.28an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Telephone Lineperson

$31.83 base wage + $8.45 fringe benefits

On Washington public works in each of these 39 counties, an outside telephone line worker working as telephone lineperson must be paid at least $40.28 an hour in total: $31.83 in wages plus $8.45 in fringe benefits for health, pension, vacation, training and other plans. L&I's rate took effect August 31, 2025.

L&I published this rate on August 1, 2025 and it took effect August 31, 2025. L&I hasn't changed it since, so it is still current in period 2026-2. Checked against L&I's wage lookup on October 24, 2026.

L&I lists 4 commercial outside telephone line worker rates for each of these counties, from $27.97 to $42.62 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe benefits: $31.83 + $8.45

The wage is the taxable hourly rate. The other lines are what Washington law calls "usual benefits": contributions to health, pension, vacation and holiday, apprenticeship and similar plans. A contractor that doesn't provide a benefit pays its value as wages instead (RCW 39.12.010).

Base wage (taxable)$31.83
Health and welfare$7.50
Pension$0.95
Total straight-time hourly rate$40.28

Set from: collective bargaining agreement, 2023-2026 Agreement between Local Union No. 89 and Local Union No. 659 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO and Northwest Line Constructors Chapter National Electrical Contractors Association. Where a county has a collective bargaining agreement, L&I adopts its wage and benefits; with more than one, the higher rate prevails. Otherwise L&I uses wage surveys (RCW 39.12.015).

When does this rate change?

Every outside telephone line worker rate in the King County group

As L&I lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.

  1. Cable Splicer$42.62
  2. Telephone Lineperson$40.28
  3. Telephone Equipment Operator (Light)$35.60
  4. Hole Digger/Ground Person$27.97
Total hourly rate of each outside telephone line worker classification in the King County group, highest first, split into base wage and fringe benefits.
ClassificationBase wageFringe benefitsTotal rateEffective
Cable Splicer$34.10 $8.52 $42.62 Aug 31, 2025
Hole Digger/Ground Person$19.87 $8.10 $27.97 Aug 31, 2025
Telephone Equipment Operator (Light)$27.28 $8.32 $35.60 Aug 31, 2025
Telephone Lineperson$31.83 $8.45 $40.28 Aug 31, 2025

Holidays

L&I holiday code 5A:

Holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Friday after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day (7).

How the King County group compares

The main outside telephone line worker rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.

Every county in Washington

Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby

  1. King County groupbase $31.83$40.28
  2. Pierce Countybase $31.83$40.28
  3. Snohomish Countybase $31.83$40.28
  4. Kitsap Countybase $31.83$40.28

Which county is in which outside telephone line worker group

Every Washington county with a outside telephone line worker rate. Counties L&I treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done.

CountiesMain classificationBase wageTotal rate
King County group, 39 counties: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom, Whitman, YakimaTelephone Lineperson$31.83 $40.28 

1 group of counties with identical L&I rates, and 0 counties with rates of their own.

Washington outside telephone line worker prevailing wage by county, with a map

More from L&I on this rate

  • Scope of work, WAC 296-127-01377: which tasks this trade covers. L&I says the right classification “depends upon determinations published by L&I” (L&I).
  • L&I's prevailing wage lookup, for any county, trade and bid date
  • Apprentices: registered apprentices are paid L&I's apprentice rate for the trade. Anyone without a registered agreement counts as a journey-level worker (RCW 39.12.021).

Every trade's rates, county by county: Adams · Asotin · Benton · Chelan · Clallam · Clark · Columbia · Cowlitz · Douglas · Ferry · Franklin · Garfield · Grant · Grays Harbor · Island · Jefferson · King · Kitsap · Kittitas · Klickitat · Lewis · Lincoln · Mason · Okanogan · Pacific · Pend Oreille · Pierce · San Juan · Skagit · Skamania · Snohomish · Spokane · Stevens · Thurston · Wahkiakum · Walla Walla · Whatcom · Whitman · Yakima

Are you being paid this rate?

Add your wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $40.28. Each contractor files an L&I-approved Statement of Intent to Pay Prevailing Wages before it's paid, and an Affidavit of Wages Paid when the job is accepted (RCW 39.12.040). On contracts over $10,000 the approved intent and L&I's contact details are posted on the job site (RCW 39.12.020).

Source

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, prevailing wage lookup, Telephone Line Construction - Outside (TELE), published August 1, 2025, effective August 31, 2025: secure.lni.wa.gov/wagelookup/. L&I keeps a wage record for each county; for the row this page leads with:

Each figure comes from L&I's lookup and is checked against L&I's CSV export and a second, separate query. How we check · Download every Washington rate as CSV · Report an error