Take action
You can get politically active by contacting lawmakers, attending a lobbying event, and more. Contact WPEA lobbyist Seamus Petrie to find out how you can get involved.
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The final 2017-2019 operating budget details are out, with just hours to go to avoid a state government shutdown. This compromise budget fully funds and approves our state employee collective bargaining agreements. It includes the COLAs, the increased vacation accrual, and the specific increases for targeted job classes that our bargaining team negotiated last summer.
The budget still must pass the Senate, pass the House, and be signed by Governor Inslee before midnight tonight in order to avoid a shutdown. The budget also includes: - A 6% cut to the number of management positions in General Government. - A reduction in the B&O tax rate for manufacturing - A fund shift transferring money from the budget stabilization account (rainy day fund) to fund pensions. More details are still emerging. Stay tuned for updates.
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Thousands of state employees are facing potential temporary layoffs because the Senate has failed to take action on funding a real state budget. The House passed a budget that fully funds our state employee contracts months ago. But the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to fund our contracts. In fact, every single Republican senator voted to reject our contracts and cut funding for higher education and other vital public services. Now, despite getting a 4% pay increase, they’re refusing to negotiate as a potential state government shutdown looms. Call your Senator TODAY and tell them it's time to come to the table and pass a budget that supports public service and invests in Washington. Here's a sample script: “I work as a ______ (job) at _______ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don't play games with public services and public employees. Vote to enact the House budget and invest in Washington.
The legislature wraps up a 30-day special session Tuesday without coming to an agreement about education funding or whether to approve public employee contracts. Governor Jay Inslee is calling for a second special session to begin immediately. We’re getting perilously close to a potential July 1st government shutdown. The House has already passed a budget that funds our contracts and invests in public service. The problem is in the Senate, where they passed a budget that would reject our contracts and cut public services. So the thing to do now is to call your Senator to urge them to adopt the House budget and invest in Washington! Here's a sample script:
“I work as a ________________ (job) at ___________________ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don’t play games with public service employees. Please adopt the House budget, invest in Washington and fully fund our contracts.” The legislature has ended its 105-day regular session without passing a two-year budget. The divided legislature could not come to an agreement on whether to approve the state employee contracts. The Democratic-led House released a budget that fully funds our collective bargaining agreements, while the Republican-led Senate offered a budget that rejects our contracts and cuts vital public services.
As lawmakers start a 30-day special session, they still need to hear from state employees. Call your legislators and tell them to invest in Washington by enacting the House budget and fully funding our contracts! Call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and ask your senator to adopt the House's budget, invest in Washington, and fully fund our contracts. Find your legislator here. How to call
If you get a person: “I’d like to leave a message for my senator.” They’ll ask you for your name, address, and phone number. Then they’ll ask for your message and transcribe it for you. Here’s a sample message you could leave: “I work as a ________________ (job) at ___________________ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don’t play games with public service employees. Please adopt the House budget, invest in Washington and fully fund our contracts.” If you get a recording: “Hello, my name is _____________ (name). I work as a ________________ (job) at ___________________ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don’t play games with public service employees. Please adopt the House budget, invest in Washington, and fully fund our contracts.” On Monday, the House released a budget that fully funds our collective bargaining agreements and makes investments in K-12 education and mental health. This stands in stark contrast to the Senate budget, which rejects our contracts and cuts vital public services.
The House budget is funded by a revenue package that also helps fix our broken tax code. The House proposes closing some corporate tax loopholes, supporting collection of sales tax on out-of-state online retailers, and creating an excise tax on capital gains (with broad exemptions for single-family homes and retirement accounts). The choice is clear, between a budget that rejects our contracts (including our COLAs, our increased vacation accrual, and the specific pay increases we negotiated), and a budget that fully funds our contracts and helps build a fairer tax code. Call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and ask your senator to adopt the House's budget, invest in Washington, and fully fund our contracts. Find your legislator here. How to call
The Senate voted to pass a budget that rejects our 2017-19 collective bargaining agreements. The party-line vote came just after midnight Friday morning. If enacted, the Senate budget would wipe out the COLAs, the changes to vacation accrual, and the targeted pay increases we negotiated. It would replace them with two $500 annual pay-increases in the next two years. This proposal disregards both collective bargaining law and the hard work of our WPEA members who negotiated the contracts.
The House expected to release its budget on Monday, so this is just the opening move by Senate Republicans as they go into budget negotiations. But we can’t allow them to play games with our contracts and threaten the vital services provided by state employees. Now is the time to call your senator at 1-800-562-6000 and tell them to invest in Washington and fully fund our contracts! Find your legislator here. How to call
If you get a person: “I’d like to leave a message for my senator.” They’ll ask you for your name, address, and phone number. Then they’ll ask for your message and transcribe it for you. Here’s a sample message you could leave: “I work as a ________________ (job) at ___________________ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don’t play games with public service employees. Please invest in Washington and fully fund our contracts.” If you get a recording: “Hello, my name is _____________ (name). I work as a ________________ (job) at ___________________ (agency) and I’m a member of the Washington Public Employees Association. I’m one of thousands of state employees who provide critical services for the citizens of Washington. I’m proud to do this work, even though the state pays a salary that is below market rate, according to the state’s own salary survey. Now the Senate has released a budget that plays political games with the collective bargaining agreements we negotiated in good faith. Don’t play games with public service employees. Please invest in Washington and fully fund our contracts.”
Legislators are holding town halls this month to update their constituents on legislative session and hear your concerns. This is a chance to tell your legislators to invest in Washington and fund our contracts!
We're in the middle of cutoff season at the legislature, where policy bills will move forward in the process or die, Bills must be voted on by their house of origin by Wednesday, March 8 in order to continue through the process. Budget negotiations will start in earnest later in March. Here are some of the bills we're tracking:
Our 2017-2019 state employee contracts are at stake this legislative session - along with the 2% cost-of-living adjustments we bargained. The legislature will have to decide whether to invest in Washington and fund our contracts for state employees, or to send everyone back to the bargaining table. WPEA represents state employees in every legislative district, and a 2% COLA would have a significant economic impact in communities across the state. We need to send a message reminding the legislators about that economic impact, so we're asking our members what they will do with a COLA. NOTE: Some questions in the survey defaulted to "required," when they should have been optional. If you were unable to submit your response before, please take the survey again. We want to hear from you! Our 2017-2019 state employee contracts are at stake this legislative session - along with the 2% cost-of-living adjustments we bargained. The legislature will have to decide whether to invest in Washington and fund our contracts for state employees, or to send everyone back to the bargaining table. WPEA represents state employees in every legislative district, and a 2% COLA would have a significant economic impact in communities across the state. We need to send a message reminding the legislators about that economic impact, so we're asking our members what they will do with a COLA. |
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