WPEA recently settled an Unfair Labor Practice filed against the Department of Natural Resources. The complaint brought by WPEA was for skimming of union work. WPEA brought this complaint on behalf of DNR members who should have been offered the finance work (and potential overtime) that was improperly contracted out to an outside firm.

​​Affected members received a settlement from DNR for the amount they should have earned. Shop steward Suzanne Thome and staff representative Amanda Hacker worked tirelessly for months to get this settlement.

On December 9-11,  three WPEA members expanded their union  leadership skills at the 2016  Emerging Leaders Conference.  The conference was presented by the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center and the Washington Young Emerging Labor Leaders.

WPEA stewards Abdullah Harris (Highline College) and Frederick Pieters (Edmonds Community College) joined WPEA's Jason Holland ​at the conference, which focused on solidarity and integrating race, gender, and community into labor leadership.

Abdullah, Frederick and Jason attended conference workshops taught by union and community leaders on organizing, public speaking, and social-media outreach.  

WPEA offers members scholarships to union-education programs, such as the  Emerging Leaders Conference.