Anyone know if Bob got what he wanted and if "every route is fully operational" today? I sure hope that they didn't go back to work when they weren't feeling better because their boss told them they expected them to show up sick.
WPEA doesn't have any problem announcing our vote results along with the percentages. I keep hearing about "NDAs" or "gag orders" around the results. I have no idea what that means, so I thought I would lead by example and show ours:
In my opinion, labor should not be shy about the fact that this is not working for our members. "This" being the current state of bargaining and classified salaries in Washington State.
WPEA is not the only Union who is subject to RCW 41.80 that has lost more than 1.1% (on average) since 2005. I have been at WPEA since 2005 and I have seen these positions get further away from prevailing wage over the last 20 years. We have always had members who struggled to make ends meet, but not nearly at the rate we do today. I have seen the very real toll that it has taken over the last twenty years to work for the state and end up in the same spot you were in, except worse off because of inflation outpacing wages, twenty years ago. I know that my members are not the only ones facing these issues and that other represented staff are also struggling to survive while working a state job.
Our next big fight is this contract reopener in August of 2027. I will be working every day between now and then to try and bring labor together to attack this issue in a meaingful way. If you are currently represented, and agree that we all need to work together to change this, please make sure to let your union know. If you expect your union to work with the rest of labor on this, I have no doubt that they will do what they have to do to make that happen - you just have to make sure that they know what you expect them to do!
I've been following the posts about the TAs and the level of disappointment - inevitably, someone posts that this TA is going to be the straw that broke their back and they will be withdrawing their union membership.
While you all have the right to decide how you feel about your union, I want to offer an alternative to just dropping dues. Instead of taking your ball and going home - can you consider maybe joining the game?
Labor Notes has an amazing training for union members in similar situations to you all. Here is a link for that:
Workshop: What to Do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart | Labor Notes
If you truly are motivated to make changes to the way your union operates, the worst possible option is to drop membership - because that will be assuring that your voice is out of the equation and that the status quo will continue. In my opinon, you all have two options: 1) disengage and assure that things won't change, or 2) make your union work for you. In order to pull of #2, you are going to have to educate yourself a bit - I think the Labor Notes training is the best place to start.
For WPEA members, WPEA is happy to pay the registration costs (as long as it is within my current budget to do so, and we still have some funds for labor notes trainings). For members who are not WPEA, if you can not afford the registration fee, Labor Notes will still allow you to take the training. The registration fee is a suggestion, not a requirement.
I would much rather plan a mutiny than roll over and die - but that is just me.
Thee appears to be a lot of questions about the TA for state employees. I'm going to try and answer some of them. But before I do that, please know that I am intimately familiar with the WPEA TA, not what other labor unions have agreed to. That said, it is safe to assume that all labor (at least the ones bargaining with OFM) have the same basic compensation package. So, I'm going to stick to compensation and my understanding of that.
Going into bargaining, the Governor was really clear that he did not intend to dedicate more money to state employee salaries. OFM has maintained that position throughout this cycle of bargaining. WPEA saw little, if any, movement on non-economic and economic issues, until last week. Our last bargaining session was scheduled to be on September 2nd and that was the first day that we got a real offer from the state for resolving the agreement. Unfortunately, OFM waited until 7:30 pm on 9/2 to introduce an entirely new concept, so we weren't able to reach agreement and had to meet again on the 9th.
I can confirm that WPEA agreed to TA the states last, best and final offer on September 11th. Our intent is to send it out for ratification to our members. That said, we have no problem acknowledging that there is very, very, little in this agreement that would justify ratification.
Now on to the offer:
I am sure other unions got additional things that are specific to their members. For WPEA, we had a few priorities that we were able to win, but one is specific to only our union, and the other benefits WFSE members who participate in wildfire at DNR.
WPEA was able to maintain the lump sum for the certificated teachers at the Washington State Shool for the Blind and the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth - while this is current contract, the state was proposing a takeaway - until they showed up on the 2nd.
WPEA was able to fix a four year problem with DNR wildfire Rest and Recuperation (R&R) days. The new language would require DNR to pay for all R&R days, regardless of when they occur.
Hopefully that helps answer a few questions. I'm sure everyone is anxious for their union to annouce the results. For WPEA, we are working on summaries this weekend and intend to send out our vote on Monday for GG - Higher Education has not reached a TA, yet, but they are scheduled to meet on Monday.
Happy to answer questions, if I can!
