WFSE DCYF - Sign Petition by 7/15
Subject: DCYF Respect Our Schedules!
Hello WFSE DCYF Siblings!
At our last DCYF policy committee meeting, the committee voted to proceed with a petition regarding those with alternate schedules converting on holiday weeks. (Petition) Many of you are probably wondering what that even means and why it matters, and that is exactly what this email will explain!
What Does This Mean?
Many with alternate schedules such as 4 10s (4 days of 10 hours each) have always had to convert on holiday weeks back to a 5 8s (5 days of 8 hours each) schedule, however, others have not depending on their unit and the work they do. About a year ago, the Department began sending notices to workers on alternate schedules that they would have to start reverting on holiday weeks. As an example, if their regular schedule is Monday through Thursday and Monday is a holiday, that person would now have to work on Friday that week - so essentially working an extra day for many holidays.
It can be easy to miss the importance of this issue to many of us - it's impossible for some of us to get an alternative schedule approved at all - but for others it is absolutely vital to maintain our employment and to balance things like elder or childcare. Two weeks' notice to figure out alternate plans on a holiday week is not much time, and it can be incredibly expensive. To make matters worse, it also leaves people wondering if they messed up, or whether there is a reason it is being taken away? When management is asked why they made this decision, they claim it is for a “business need,” with no further explanation of what that need actually is.
Why Does This Matter?
From digging into this issue, we learned that all of us in the Department share the same frustrations: a lack of transparency and communication from management. We asked office management, regional leadership, and state leadership if this was happening across the Department, and what the spontaneous new business need was. What we were met with was childish finger pointing: regional leadership blaming state leadership for this decision, while state leadership reported that regions are free to make their own decisions (totally never heard that one before).
What we did not receive was any reasoning as to why or how the decision was made. If leadership announces a uniform practice of converting on holiday weeks, people might not be happy, but it is at least a clear, decision that management should own up to. It can be communicated in a transparent way that this is happening to everyone. If a unit or program has a nonimaginary reason why converting makes sense, that can be communicated in a clear and transparent way.
We have seen this finger pointing and lack of transparency and accountability in every part of the Department; it goes far beyond the issue of converting on holiday weeks. If you have ever heard the term “business need” or similar vague language used to shut down conversations, this is what we ultimately want to stop.
If your work schedule suddenly changed and you were left scrambling, wouldn't you at the very least want an answer as to why?
This petition is a small piece of this larger transparency issue, it is a way to bring our new DCYF Secretary to the table to have a real conversation on what transparency looks like, and where it is breaking down.
So let us stand together to demand transparency and accountability, and that our agency's leadership should be held to its own professed values.
Sign here Petition Link
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In Solidarity,
WFSE DCYF Policy Committee
Jeanette Obelcz, Chair
Shauna Lowery, Eastern WA Vice Chair
Reef Landrum, Western WA Vice Chair