Campaigns and Actions
Contents
- Support Staff Support Us All! - Statewide Action
- Respect Our Schedules - DCYF Petition **Deadline Extended**
Support Staff Support Us All! - Statewide Action
No, this website is unfortunately not just extremely out of date - the state's Office of Financial Management (OFM) decided to go back on the reallocations they promised to support staff (including our office clerical teams) during contract negotiations. What does that mean? They're trying to backtrack on the pay increases for some of the most underpaid workers in our agency - and our state.
They had proposed to eliminate the Secretary series and reallocate:
- All Secretaries to Administrative Assistant (AA) 1
- All Secretary Seniors to AA2
- All Secretary Leads to AA3, and
- All Secretary Supervisors to AA4.
- In addition, increases to the AA series were agreed to.
Now they are walking that commitment back, telling agencies, colleges, and universities who use the state classification system to make their own reallocation determinations. Members are already receiving notice that they are being reallocated to lower job classifications than what was committed to in bargaining.
Support staff have only received one class-specific pay increase in over a decade, and that was to bring them above the Union-negotiated minimum wage. Our support staff make sure other workers and clients have what they need to reunify families, they prepare discovery, read court orders, request documents from out-of-state, update kids' birth certificates, manage resources for clients, and go above and beyond every single day for a wage that is not livable. And OFM's proposal just started to address this - but now they're backtracking on even that (see the bottom of this document for more details on the agreement).
We will not accept this. The original support staff petition (link for reference, do not sign this one) was started by the DCYF Policy Committee and it expanded to include support staff statewide (link for reference, also don't sign this one). We staged walkouts, green shirt days and other actions, and delivered our petition. We demanded more from management, and they gave in. And we'll do it all over again - until they get the message and choose to honor their word.
How you can take action
For all of these, remember to avoid implying or stating that you are speaking on behalf of DCYF. You're speaking as an individual or as a WFSE member. Do not use any work resources, devices, or time for any of this (your lunch and 15 minute breaks are fine!). You can talk about your experiences at work, just remember to keep confidentiality in mind.
Send an email to the governor's office demanding that the state keep its word for once.
Call Governor Ferguson's office at (360) 902-4111 (8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday),and tell him your thoughts. Not sure what to say?
I'm a member of the Washington Federation of State Employees who works at ________. I want the state to follow through on what we negotiated for our hardworking support staff.
Options:
- I rely on our support staff to keep kids safe.
- I am a clerical worker and need this reallocation because...
- The state must keep its promise.
- Without support staff I couldn't...
- Our support staff deserve a living wage.
Post on social media or send us a photo to post. You can post something yourself using hashtag SupportStaffSupportUsAll or send us a photo and we'll take care of it for you! Make a sign (or reuse an older one) that says Support Staff Support Us All or that includes other similar messaging. If you want to share relevant experiences, or your thoughts about fair bargaining, fair pay, or why this decision is obnoxious and gross, please do! We need to show management that we won't put up with this, and we need to do so quickly - perfection isn't necessary.
Remember that your post should not contain any confidential or identifying information for clients or providers (double-check your photos as well), and any photos or experiences of others should be shared with their consent. Our goal is to show the governor, OFM, our representatives, and regular Washingtonians the essential work that our clerical teams and other support staff do every day to support the people of our state, and why these reallocations - and fairer wages - are necessary.
If you're posting it yourself, you can tag Governor Bob Ferguson, and your representatives as well if you like!
If you're sending it to us, let us know if you want the post to be anonymous or not!
Feeling really annoyed? It never hurts to contact your elected officials to tell them about this and ask them to fight for their employees and constituents! - Use the district finder to locate your legislative district and contact information for your representatives.
Check WFSE.org and your email for more updates and other ways to act!
Resources:
I'm support staff - what should I be doing?
Appeal bad decisions. If you are a member of the Secretary series and have received notice of an incorrect reallocation, you are strongly encouraged to appeal that decision, with the assistance of the Member Connection Center ([email protected] / 833-MCC-WFSE). You only have 30 days to do so, starting when you receive written notice of reallocation. If you are a Secretary Senior, you may find the comparison in the below file to be helpful for your appeal. If you don't know if your reallocation is incorrect, you aren't sure how to appeal, or you have other questions, contact your steward, council rep, or the Member Connection Center (MCC).
Regardless of whether you've appealed or not, it doesn't hurt to take the actions above, and to encourage your coworkers to do so as well.
(Thank you to WFSE DCYF member Chris Bagby for preparing this comparison and for allowing us to share it here.)
Respect Our Schedules - DCYF Petition **Deadline Extended**
At our last DCYF Policy Committee meeting, the Committee voted to proceed with a petition regarding those with alternate schedules (such as 4 10 hour days) converting on holiday weeks. Not sure what that means? Check out our Policy Committee update for details.
Happy to sign knowing that this petition makes the lives and holiday weeks of your coworkers and union siblings easier and less complicated? Sign the petition here!
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Do you have an idea for an action? Is there an issue relevant to WFSE DCYF workers that you want us to know about or share? Talk with your local union or contact us at [email protected].
