MEMBERS & LOCALS

Every member belongs to a local and has a vote in local elections.    Elections determine local officers and local executive board members.  Elections are also held to determine delegates and alternates to council-level policy committees, Council’s biennial convention, and AFSCME’s International convention.  

COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEES

WFSE’s Constitution calls for nine policy committees made up of delegate-members who work in a particular area of state government.  Their mission is to define and work through issues unique to their area before forwarding requests for action (resolutions) to the council-level executive board.

The nine policy committees are:

• CORRECTIONS
  Community Corrections, Pre-Release, Work Release, Ahtanum View Correctional Complex, and Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women.

• EMPLOYMENT SECURITY
  Employment Security Department.

• HUMAN SERVICES
  Department of Social and Health Services bargaining units, except Institutions, Vocational Rehabilitation Division and the Community Services Section of Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration.

• INSTITUTIONS
  Institutions run by the Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Veterans Affairs, including DD Field Services, SOLA (State-Operated Living Alternatives), DSHS Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, Juvenile Rehabilitation Group Homes, and Community Services Section of Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration.

• INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION  
  Four-year institutions (UW, WWU, CWU, EWU, WSU, TESC), community colleges (Bellevue, Centralia, Everett, Green River, Peninsula, Lower Columbia, Seattle, Shoreline, South Puget Sound, Spokane, Tacoma and Whatcom) and one technical college (Renton Technical College).

• LABOR AND INDUSTRIES  
  Department of Labor and Industries.

• MISCELLANEOUS  
  State agencies not covered by other Policy Committees, including the Arts Commission; Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals; Department of Commerce; Criminal Justice Training Commission; DSHS Vocational Rehabilitation Division; General Administration; Health; Health Care Authority; Horse Racing Commission; Human Rights Commission; Information Services; Insurance Commissioner; Licensing, Lottery; Military Department; School for the Blind; School for the Deaf; Secretary of State; State Patrol; Utilities and Transportation Commission, and others.

• NATURAL RESOURCES  
  Agriculture; Ecology; Fish and Wildlife; Natural Resources; Parks and Recreation; and Recreation and Conservation Office.

• TRANSPORTATION  
  Department of Transportation.

Council Policy Committees elect representatives from their committee to the council-level Executive Board. 

COUNCIL EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Council Exective Board is the body that is charged with carrying forward the resolutions approved at the convention and conducting the business of the membership between conventions.

The Executive Board meets at least three times a year, but may schedule special meetings to deal with urgent matters.

Committees of the Executive Board are appointed to study certain issues or topics and to make recommendations to the board. 

• Collective Bargaining
• Communications
• Education and Training
• External Organizing
• Finance
• Health and Safety
• Internal Organizing
• Legislative & Political Action
• LGBTQI - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex
• Medal of Valor
• Members Only Benefits
• Next Wave
• Personnel
• Retirement
• Steward
• Women’s & Equal Partners
• Workforce Diversity & Human Rights

WFSE CONVENTION

WFSE’s highest governing body is the convention of the membership, held in odd-numbered years.  It was last held October 2009 in SeaTac, and will be held in Spokane in 2011.

WFSE Locals elect members, as delegates and alternates, to the convention to elect the union’s officers (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer), to formulate policies for the next biennium, and consider any amendments to the Council 28 constitution.

• Read WFSE’s Constitution here.

AFSCME INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

The highest governing body of the union is AFSCME’s convention of the membership.  It is held in even-numbered years and will be held in 2010 in Boston, Mass.

AFSCME’s Locals from across the country convene to elect officers, formulate policies and consider resolutions and amendments to the International constitution. 

• Read AFSCME’s Constitution at AFSCME.org > Publications