Vote now by phone for GG and HE CBAs

The ratification voting period is now open for WPEA members in Higher Education and General Government. Members can vote anytime before 5pm on September 30. The summary of changes is available on the bargaining website.

If you have trouble with the voting system, follow the prompts and enter # after your PIN. If you continue to have trouble with the system, you can contact the TrueBallot representative directly at 209-725-3379 x1. (You can also reach TrueBallot at 866-624-8570 x2.)

If you are a WPEA member in Higher Education or General Government and do not have a PIN, contact Fawn Hacker at 1-800-544-9732 x100.

Thank you for your patience as we work with this new technology.

 

WPEA fights new PRR

A new group has emerged, requesting public employees' information through a Public Records Request. Little is known about the group called "Practigov" but they have requested information on grievance records. This mirrors requests made for other unions' records. WPEA will fight this request in court on September 30.

There is still no court date set for the Court of Appeals hearing over the current injunction against the Freedom Foundation's PPR.

 

Public employees vote

Election day is just over a month away. Our choices this November will determine control of the House, the Senate, and the Governor's mansion. Most importantly, who's elected can impact the funding of our new contracts. 

We need to elect legislators who understand and value the work that public employees do every day. So WPEA and our allies at the Washington State Labor Council are reaching out to unions members across the state to elect the best people on November 8. If enough of us write postcards, knock on doors, and support labor-friendly candidates, we can make a real change this election.

WPEA has endorsed a number of candidates, including:

• 2nd LD: House 1 – Amy Pivetta Hoffman
• 17th LD: Senate – Tim Probst
• 22nd LD: Senate – Sam Hunt; House 1 – Laurie Dolan;
  House 2 – Beth Doglio
• 28th LD: Senate – Marisa Peloquin; House 1 – Mari Leavitt;
  House 2 – Christine Kilduff
• 43rd LD: House 1 – Nicole Macri
• 49th LD: House 2 – Monica Stonier
• Superintendent of Public Instruction – Chris Reykdal
• Thurston County Commission: District 1 – Jim Cooper;
  District 2 – Kelsey Hulse
• Clark County Council: District 3 – Tanisha Harris:
  District 4 – Roman Battan

WPEA has not yet made an endorsement in the race for commissioner of public lands. For more endorsements, visit the Washington State Labor Council’s list of endorsements.

 

Highline contract ratified by 98%

On September 22, WPEA members at Highline College ratified the 2017-2019 bargaining agreement. The agreement will go into effect July 2017.

 

WPEA President Kent Stanford delivered a powerful speech at this month's Invest in Washington rally

On September 1, more than one thousand Washington public employees rallied in the State Capitol Rotunda. The rally was to tell Gov. Jay Inslee to fund real raises and help close the pay gap between public employees and their counterparts in the private sector. Read more in The Stand.

Read the full article, 99 percent of Washington state employees paid less than their counterparts, on kiro.com.

 

Court of Appeals extends injunction

In April, the Freedom Foundation submitted public records requests for WPEA members’ names, dates of birth, and work email addresses.  On August 16, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled to extend a previous injunction that WPEA won protecting the release of your dates of birth to the Freedom Foundation. 

The Union demonstrated a debatable issue as to whether the employees' dates of birth are exempt from disclosure under the privacy exemption, RCW 42.56.230(3), particularly in this era of cybercrime and the use of dates of birth as identity verification. What this means is that the judge believes the union has made a point that is debatable; that the release of the birthdates could harm its members.

A new hearing will soon be scheduled so the Union can make that argument in front of the Appeals Court. WPEA will continue to fight to prevent the release of your personal information and keep you up-to-date. We will inform you of that new date as soon as it is scheduled. So, be sure to check this website and your email for updates as this case progresses.