WALLA WALLA — A third union — this time for professional salaried workers — has been approved at Walla Walla Community College, and officials said the new group could be finalized by the end of this year.

Talks of the new union began in March. The group of about 50 employees at the time now includes about 70 union members. The college is working with the American Federation of Teachers, or AFT, to iron out the union’s makeup.

One union on campus represents academic faculty and another represents classified staff members, who are hourly workers.

Jacqui Cain, external organizer for the AFT, said the professional exempt union at WWCC was certified by the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission in May.

“This means that they have officially been recognized as a union, and the college was notified that they were going to have a request to start the bargaining process,” Cain said.

When the AFT started working with the college, there were about 40 positions that were disputed, meaning it was unclear whether those positions would qualify to be in the union. Now, Cain said there are only two disputed positions that will likely be resolved within six to eight weeks.

Currently, the union’s bargaining committee and the college are planning times to meet up and negotiate a collective bargaining contract. The bargaining committee created a survey for all members to fill out to identify the top issues for bargaining.

Joshua Slepin, the college’s director of institutional research and effectiveness, started this process more than a year ago when he called the AFT to learn about options for unionizing. He said the college had not resisted the effort.

“We’re very much looking forward to the opportunity to engage with management and bargain a contract,” Slepin said.

He listed fair compensation and a reasonable expectation of work as two of the issues the union is looking to discuss with the college. Michelle Cole, the college’s interim public information officer, said the college planned to cooperate with the union.

“The college continues to engage in productive conversations with representatives of the state federation and will continue to participate in good faith in the process set by the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission,” Cole said.

While negotiating and creating the contract, union members will also create their own internal constitution and bylaws, decide their guiding principles and elect officers. Once this all has been done, an election will be scheduled to certify the union.

“It’s a great step forward for the workers, and it’s important also for the college to give equal voice to all of its employees so all of the employees will have the chance to be heard and talk to management about their working conditions,” Cain said.

While there is not a strict timeline for this process, Cain said the college and union plan to begin negotiations before the end of summer and could complete their first contract by the end of the year.

“When the employer and the employees respect each other and engage in open communication, this can happen smoothly,” Cain said. “It doesn’t have to be an adversarial process.”