WFSE DCYF Update - October 31, 2025
Hello WFSE DCYF Members,
We are days away from our first policy committee meeting of the new term, and we already have updates for you!
Bargaining
Bargaining proposals are being accepted now until 12/31. Soon, there will be nominations and elections for a new bargaining team.
The DCYF Policy Committee is collecting and endorsing bargaining proposals from members, you are free to copy and paste these proposals, make changes, or write your own! Find endorsed bargaining proposals here!
Learn more about the collective bargaining process, or start submitting bargaining proposals! They don’t need to be complicated, you don’t have to know the article of the CBA, and you can just put your idea/what you want – you don’t need to include the actual contract language.
Updates from Convention
The WFSE/Council 28 convention was held from 10/3-10/5. Convention is a time for WFSE members across the state to recognize the hard work and successes from the previous two years, set our priorities going forward, and elect our council leadership.
For example, members voted to support the research and resources needed to advocate for a 32-hour work week, while making sure the appropriate laws are changed to avoid any unintended negative consequences.
Members voted to support making the Geoduck the Washington state clam (attend lobby day to get a button!). A similar resolution adopted by our policy committee can be found here.
Our new WFSE/Council 28 Officers: Mike Yestramski was re-elected President, Ashley Fueston was re-elected Vice President, Tracy Stanley was re-elected Secretary, and Jeanette Obelcz was elected Treasurer.
WFSE Local 889/DCYF Policy Committee were among speakers on a panel discussing how to stand-up and fight back, for our work in organizing the 4/9 satellite rallies. In addition, Local 443 leadership discussed organizing the 4/9 rally in Olympia, and Rainier School members Brittany Barber and Tazia Duncan shared their experiences fighting to save Residential Habilitation Centers (RHCs). The panel ended with a call to action for members to continue fighting for Gov. Ferguson and OFM to honor the contract for support staff.
Congratulations to our very own DCYF Vice-Chair and newly elected Vice President of Local 1221, Shauna Lowery, for receiving the Leadership Award! Shauna has been working tirelessly to develop and support an active, organized membership on the East side and across the state. We are so lucky to have Shauna as a leader!
Congratulations to our very own DCYF executive board member and Local 948 President Amy Conklin for Job Action of the Year for the Support Staff Support Us All Campaign! Amy stepped up, spoke her mind, and she has made sure that all members are heard and welcomed in our policy committee and in her local. She has brought in support staff voices since the founding of our committee – and we are much stronger and more unified because of her efforts. Thank you so much Amy, for never giving up!
You can see more convention resolutions and other convention highlights on the 2025 WFSE Convention website, and find pictures at this link.
Support Staff Support Us All!
Please continue taking action for support staff, because support staff support us all!
As a quick refresher, WFSE bargained for the secretary series to be abolished, and all those that were in the series would be converted to the administrative assistant series. The agreed conversion was higher than what the Office of Financial Management (OFM) ultimately enacted – resulting in 5% lower pay. OFM did the same thing to those in the paralegal job class.
WFSE has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) and grievance on behalf of all those impacted; however, those things take time to be settled. Governor Ferguson has the ability to order OFM to honor the bargaining agreement right now, and we need you to contact him as often as possible to inspire him to do the right thing.
Email Ferguson: Gov Ferguson: Honor Support Staff, Paralegal Pay Increases
Email OFM and Ferguson (use your personal email address): Support Staff OFM Letter - Google Docs
Find flyers, a Teams background, a phone call outline, our social media action, and more on our website.
Lobby Days
Mark your calendars! Lobby days are coming in January, and DCYF Lobby Day will be Monday 1/19! Signups for DCYF Lobby Day, as well as dates for specific districts, can be found here! If you would like to attend Lobby Day Training (it isn’t mandatory, but it can be helpful), it is on Saturday, 1/10 and you can RSVP here.
This session we will see more attempts to weaken our ability to collective bargaining, roll back our benefits, and generally do more with less. While we will be pushing for more resources and changes in laws (including changing HB 1227’s imminent physical harm standard for removal), we will also be fighting to hold the line on the gains we have made over all these years.
In addition, Keeping Kids Safe, which is advocating for significant changes to the Keeping Families Together Act (former HB 1227), will be holding a rally in Olympia on Wednesday 1/14.
New Resources
We missed this in our last update emails, but our policy committee website has a new “Our Rights at Work” section, where we’ll be posting articles and resources outlining our rights in the workplace – and how we can make sure they’re being respected. So far, we have an article about flex time, overtime, workload, and breaks for overtime-eligible workers, as well as an article about the principles of just cause for workers who have permanent status. Both articles include printable versions that you can bring to the office, put on your union board, or share with coworkers (off the clock and without using state resources), and that include QR codes to resources and more information.
If you have an idea for another topic/resource, a question about an article, or you think you might want to contribute something yourself, please reach out to us at [email protected]
As always, if you’re facing potential discipline, an excessively high workload, or other issues in the office, we recommend you contact your steward, council representative, or local.
Workload Subcommittee
At our last policy committee meeting, we formed a special committee (subcommittee) on workload. Some of the goals we discussed were addressing the ridiculous workloads we have, the stress, isolation, and shame of falling behind, and all the ways our management has often failed to support us with those workloads. The workload subcommittee is meeting twice a month: the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m., and the fourth Saturday of the month at 9:30 a.m. Find information to join these meetings on our website, or in our Facebook group.
Some highlights so far include:
- We have created slogans, are developing flyers, and creating a sustainable campaign to advocate for safe workloads for all staff.
- We are developing a way for members to report when they have discussions around workload so that workload concerns are more easily tracked and addressed.
- Collecting and developing bargaining proposals focused around safe workloads, workload accountability, and protections for staff faced with unsafe workloads.
We welcome all members to our committee meetings! If you are unable to attend and have ideas, email [email protected]
Next WFSE DCYF Policy Committee Meeting
Our next meeting will be Saturday 11/1, in person, at the SeaTac Hilton at 17620 International Blvd., Seattle, WA.
We will be holding elections for policy committee officers: Chair, Western WA Vice Chair, Eastern WA Vice Chair, and Recording Secretary.
We will also be holding elections for statewide WFSE executive board: we have seven executive board seats.
We hope to see you there!
In Solidarity,
WFSE - DCYF Policy Committee
Jeanette Obelcz, Policy Committee Chair
Shauna Lowery, Eastern Washington Vice Chair
Reef Landrum, Western Washington Vice Chair
Learn more about our policy committee!
Not a member yet? Join today!