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Session Wrap Up

3/14/2022

 
  1. Session Wrap-up
The legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday, wrapping up the 2022 60-day session. They passed a supplemental budget that includes the negotiated COLAs and lump-sum payments for all our state contracts, targeted pay increases for specific job classifications based on recruitment and retention needs, and investments in our community and technical college system. The legislature also passed bills to support the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, add a Roth option for deferred compensation plans, and allow legislative staff to unionize.
 
Here are some of the budget details:
 
Employee compensation
  • 3.25% COLAs for all state employee WPEA members, effective July 1, 2022.
  • Lump-sum payments, as negotiated by WPEA members, for General Government and Higher Ed contracts, effective July 1, 2022 (details vary depending on the contract).
  • Funding for classification-based salary adjustments for employee recruitment and retention, based on the results of the 2020 state salary survey.
  • PERS 1 retiree benefit increase of 3% (up to $110 per month).
 
Higher Ed
  • Support for increased access to financial aid resources at community & technical colleges, including hiring outreach specialists at the colleges and grants for colleges to partner with community-based organizations to increase access to financial aid.
  • Compensation support to shore up college budgets while tuition revenue bounces back.
 
Department of Natural Resources
  • The budget for DNR eliminates a proviso that restricted how wildfire response money could be spent. Previously, DNR could only use those accounts to pay for direct fire suppression costs, and had to pay “indirect and administrative expenses” out of other accounts. Now, DNR will be able to pay all costs related to wildfire response out of the money appropriated for wildfire response.
  • Directions to close the Naselle Youth Camp by July 1, 2023. **Closing the Naselle Camp would eliminate a valuable resource our state depends on for fire response and silviculture. Help save the Naselle Youth Camp by asking Governor Inslee to veto this portion of the budget!

Two Quick Steps to Help Make a Safer and Saner Workplace

3/3/2022

 
 The legislative session is almost over, but there are two important things that aren’t done yet – and we need your help to get them over the finish line.

First, the House and Senate have released their budgets, which include the 3.25% COLA and negotiated one-time lump sum for state employees. Unfortunately, they left out the governor’s proposal of pay increases for some of the lowest-paying and hardest-to-fill positions in state government. The Senate failed to include them at all, and the House restricted them to General Government employees only. These pay increases will help address the staffing crisis that is spreading across state government and provide much needed relief for state workers struggling to make ends meet.
​
The Senate needs to hear from you. Tell your Senator to include the targeted recruitment and retention pay increases in the final budget! 

Click the link: https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5693

Fill Out the form with your information
​
Select Support

Submit this message:
Please support the governor’s proposed targeted pay increases to help The state of Washington is in the midst of a growing staffing crisis. It is getting harder and harder to recruit and retain skilled employees dedicated to providing the services Washingtonians depend on. Governor Inslee’s proposed budget included targeted pay increases for some of the hardest-to-fill and lowest-paid positions in state service, including custodians, food service employees, maintenance mechanics, and office assistants. Unfortunately, the Senate budget left these pay increases out entirely. State employees have worked hard to serve the public during the pandemic, despite facing furloughs and no COLAs – and the staffing crisis has forced us to do more with less.
Help support hardworking public service employees by passing a budget that includes all of the targeted pay raises for state employees.

Help Protect Against Workplace Injuries
Second, House bill 1837, a bill to restore Washington state’s ability to address work-related musculoskeletal injuries and protect workers, passed the House of Representatives on a 50-48 vote last month after a marathon 9-hour all-night attempt by a few Republicans to filibuster and kill the bill. The bill addresses ergonomic injuries – those caused by using muscles, tendons, and ligaments in awkward positions or in frequent, repetitive actions, that can cause pain and injury over time. Many of these injuries can be prevented, but the state Department of Labor & Industries is prohibited from requiring employers to take steps to protect workers from repetitive motion injuries.

Now the bill is in the Senate, and union members across the state are raising their voices to help pass the bill.
 
Urge your state senator to take action on HB 1837 and to stand strong with working families (as the House did) and vote “yes.”
 
You can learn more about HB 1837 at The Stand.

Contract Bargaining Teams Announced

3/2/2022

 
We are very excited to begin bargaining our next contract. The teams have been selected, but we still have some units not represented at the table. If you would like to volunteer to represent your unit, please let us know! Click here. 

Higher Education:  First team meeting scheduled for March 26, 1 - 5
Clark College – Joey Hicklin
Big Bend Community College – Nancy Rakoz
Edmonds Community College – Fredrick Pieters
Bellevue College – Amy West
Tacoma Community College – Rich Langhorn
Pierce College – Kelly Gardner
Walla Walla Community College – Keenan Failing
Highline College – Tessa Bowen
Olympic College – Margret Hodun
Grays Harbor College – Cara Beth Stevenson
Skagit Valley College – Lance Levesen
Cascadia College – Vacant
Wenatchee Valley College – Vacant
Columbia Basin College – Vacant
 
 
General Government:  First team meeting scheduled for March 19, 1 – 5
DNR – Noah Messing and Jacob Peterson
DOR – Kriss Aker (still trying to fill one more seat for DOR – so we have one vacant seat open)
Military Department – Tim Shimp and Jim McNealy
DoA – Pending Response
LCB – Pending Response
DoL – Vacant
WSP – Pending Response
CDHY – Diedre Curle
WSSB – Pending Response

Contract Bargaining Teams - Coming Soon!

3/1/2022

 
WPEA is currently finalizing the candidates for the Contract Bargaining Teams and will be releasing the final teams tomorrow.  Stay tuned! 

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