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how affiliation came about
Personnel System Reform Act of 2002 Passes
The PSRA gave state employee unions the
ability to negotiate wages and benefits with the State for
the first time ever. To be taken seriously at the bargaining
table, WPEA membership needed to be strong and united.
Independent Unions Risk Losing Members
As larger affiliated unions strive to
represent as many public employees as possible, WPEA would
become a target for these unions who would work to recruit
members away. Resources would be needed to fight these raids
and WPEA would not be able to focus on growing membership in
our bargaining units or establish new bargaining units in
other unorganized agencies.
Members Lead Direction of Union
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2002 convention delegates vote to
explore affiliating
with an AFL-CIO international union
After learning how the PSRA would affect state employees
and their unions, a convention resolution to create a
member-driven task force to explore affiliation options
was passed.
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Affiliation Task Force gets to work
The task force spent nearly a year conducting an
extensive search to find the International that would be
the best fit for WPEA.
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WPEA’s Board of Directors take action
The task force’s recommendation to affiliate with the
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)
was approved by the Board at their March 2003 meeting.
What Affiliation Means for WPEA Members
WPEA spent the month of April 2003 conducting
informational meetings all across the State to give every
member the opportunity to have a clear understanding of the
decision they would need to make – whether to affiliate or
stay independent. Issues like autonomy, union growth, and
cost were explored.
The clear benefits were:
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Keep the membership intact
The constitution of the AFL-CIO prohibits other
affiliated unions from raiding each other. Affiliation
would give WPEA protection against such raiding and
would allow us to focus on growing our current units,
instead of fending off raids by other unions.
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Organize unrepresented state employees
An international union could provide resources to
organize and build membership in our current bargaining
units and establish new bargaining units in unorganized
agencies.
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Additional resources from
international union
Bargaining statewide to achieve a Master Agreement
covering the 5,000 state employees WPEA represents
requires new resources and expertise, which an AFL-CIO
union could offer.
Members Choose Affiliation
In the Spring of 2003, a vote was put to the
entire membership who overwhelming said yes to affiliating
with the UFCW International. On May 19, 2003, the Washington
Public Employees Association became an autonomous local
union chartered by the UFCW.
International Union Membership Fee
All affiliated locals are required to pay a
monthly per member (per capita)
fee to their International Union. To enable WPEA to continue
member representation without any lessening of services, the
UFCW agreed to give financial assistance by deferring a
large portion of this fee for 47 months following
affiliation. Per this agreement, WPEA must begin paying the
full per capita fee beginning with the 48th month.
Maintaining Service Level
Though the International Union Fees have
increased each year since affiliation, WPEA’s Board of
Directors was able to approve a budget that did not pass
that fee on to the membership, but was absorbed into the
union’s operating budget.
With the full per capita fee currently at
$12.54, the Board concluded that WPEA cannot continue to
absorb this fee without severely decreasing the level of
service. However, they did agree that passing the entire
$12.54 per capita fee on to the membership was not
reasonable.
After months of discussion, debate and
careful consideration, the Board approved a budget that
allows for the continuation of a per capita fee subsidy at
the rate of $4 per member per month. Therefore, starting
August 1, 2007, an $8.54 International Union Fee will be
deducted from each member’s first pay check of the month
(usually the 25th payroll).
For the average WPEA member this equals an
additional 40˘ per day.
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