Washington For All: Day of Action

Public services are under attack, it’s time to STAND UP and FIGHT BACK! 

Senate Democrats’ proposed budget threatens to cut our pay, require us to take mandatory unpaid leave (furlough days) every month, eliminate our ability to bargain healthcare, and increase our healthcare costs. Many of us can't afford to lose this income, or to pay more for the healthcare we need.

State workers aren’t always visible, but we provide critical services to ALL Washingtonians. We work to protect and reunite children and families, support formerly incarcerated individuals in re-entering the community, process essential benefits such as healthcare, food benefits, and childcare, provide care for adults with developmental disabilities, and just about anything else you can think of. Have you ever gone hiking in a state park or driven on a highway? That’s us.

It is up to us, and it is up to YOU, to tell Olympia that we will not accept a budget balanced on the backs of the working class, and on the health and safety of our most vulnerable. Our state’s budget is a reflection of our values, and now we have to decide our priorities:

Will we prioritize the lives of children during an unprecedented rise in child deaths and near deaths – which have in large part been attributed to impossibly large workloads?

Will we prioritize keeping Rainier School and Yakima Valley School open to provide safe housing to vulnerable adults with developmental disabilities, or push them to homelessness and emergency rooms?

Will we prioritize the safety of our communities and our long-term budget by keeping Department of Corrections re-entry centers open?

Or, will we continue to prioritize minimizing the taxes on the wealthiest people in our state, who pay much less in taxes than the poorest?

NOW is our chance to speak out for our values. NOW is our chance to decide who we are as a state. Our action – or inaction – here and now will show us what those values truly are.

WFSE Local 443 is hosting a mass rally in Olympia. Meet at the Tivoli Fountain at 11 a.m. If you can make it, RSVP here.

For those around the state, the WFSE DCYF Policy Committee and WFSE Local 889 have organized satellite rallies, open to all, across the state at 12 p.m. (unless otherwise specified below). Join us, and show your support for our state’s essential public services!

Locations:

Spokane – Sponsored by Local 1221
B.A. Clark Park, 3922 N. Normandie St., Spokane, WA 99205

DCYF Yakima Office – Sponsored by Local 1326
1002 N. 16th Ave., Yakima, WA 98902

DCYF Richland/Tri-Cities Office – Sponsored by Local 1253
1661 Fowler St., Richland, WA 99352

John Dam Plaza, Richland, 5:30 p.m. – Sponsored by Local 1253
815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352

DDA/DVA Tri-Cities Office, SE corner of parking lot – Sponsored by Local 1253
500 N. Morain St., Kennewick, WA 99336

DCYF Bremerton Office – Sponsored by Local 1181
4210 Wheaton Way, Bremerton, WA 98310

DCYF Lakewood Office
6010 Main St., Lakewood, WA 98499

DCYF Tacoma Office
1949 S. State St., Tacoma, WA 98405

DCYF King West Office – Sponsored by Local 889
100 West Harrison St., South Tower, Seattle, WA 98119

DCYF Kent Office – Sponsored by Local 889
1313 W. Meeker St., Kent, WA 98032

DCYF King East Office – Sponsored by Local 889
805 156th Ave NE., Bellevue, WA 98007

DCYF MLK Office – Sponsored by Local 889
3600 S. Graham St., Seattle, WA 98118

DDA Cherry St. – Sponsored by Local 889
1700 Cherry St., Seattle, WA 98122

DCYF Vancouver Clark Office – Sponsored by Local 313
800 NE 136th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98684

DCYF Smokey Point Office – Sponsored by Local 948
3906 172nd St. NE., Arlington, WA 98223

DCYF Everett Office – Sponsored by Local 948
840 N. Broadway, Everett, WA 98201

DCYF Bellingham Office
1720 Ellis St., Bellingham, WA 98225

You can also find our Facebook event here.  Read our open letter here.

Don’t see a rally listed in your area? Talk with your coworkers and/or your local union and host one yourself! Let us know the details and we’ll add it to the list. All you need to make a rally happen is to get a few people together! Post your photos and videos on social media using #WashingtonForAll, or send them to [email protected].

Want to get even more involved?

Contact your legislators: tell them no cuts, no furloughs, and the wealthy must pay their fair share!

Click Take Action! above or check out WFSE's (wfse.org) website for more ways to act, and for ideas on how YOU can make a difference! Resources for your rally will be added soon!