Campaigns and Actions
Contents
- Lobby Days - DCYF/Statewide Action
- Support Staff Support Us All! - Statewide Campaign
- Respect Our Schedules - DCYF Petition **Deadline Extended**
Lobby Days - DCYF/Statewide Action
Are you tired of seeing our coworkers leaving because of burnout, assaults, or poor working conditions? Is your workload unmanageable or pressuring you to work off the clock? Are you fed up with filling out a mountain of paperwork to provide our clients the most basic supports? Are you angry at the disservice our state is doing to children and families? Join us as we tell our legislators all about it!
Governor Ferguson is - yet again - proposing an all-cuts budget. Rather than taxing the billionaires, he hopes to take away the state services that support regular people, including us and our clients. Sign up to attend a lobby day to share your story, speak with your representatives, and create the change we desperately need.
Read more and learn about the upcoming session here.
How you can take action
(Optional) Sign up for lobby day training in Seattle on January 10. This is recommended, but not required, if you haven't been to a lobby day before.
Sign up for a lobby day here. There is a DCYF specific lobby day on January 19, or you can sign up for the lobby day for your district instead. You can also go to both! Keep an eye on your email and our Facebook page for bills to speak for or against and other important information. You can leave a comment on the Facebook event in the WFSE DCYF group if you have questions or would like to carpool.
Support Staff Support Us All! - Statewide Campaign
No, this website is unfortunately not just extremely out of date. During bargaining, the state's Office of Financial Management (OFM) had proposed to eliminate the Secretary series (including our clerical teams), reallocate those workers to the Administrative Assistant series, and provide an increase in pay for that series. Now, they are going back on their promise and attempting to reallocate support staff - some of the most underpaid workers in the state - to lower job classifications (with less pay) than was committed to in bargaining. Find more background here.
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 (clients) and consent (coworkers) in mind.
Send emails to the governor's office demanding that the state keep its word for once.
Send emails to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to tell them of the essential roles our support staff and clerical teams have in our offices.
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.
Wear GREEN to work every Wednesday. 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! Include a sign that says Support Staff Support Us All or that includes other similar messaging.
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.
Do you want to do more? check our organizing page and your email for more updates, resources like flyers and Teams backgrounds, and other ways to act!
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). 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).
Please share your story as well, and talk with your coworkers. If you need assistance with this, find resources here, updates here, or you can contact us ([email protected]) or the MCC ([email protected]).
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!
--
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].
