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Note: Complete details on this bargaining session were sent to General Government bargaining unit members via email.
This public-facing version has several details removed in order to comply with ground rules established during bargaining. If you didn’t get the email with complete details, you can submit your contact info here.
This message below was written by your union president Mike Yestramski at the conclusion of our 8th bargaining session for our 2025-27 General Government contract late last night.
Mike is a member of WFSE Local 793 and a psychiatric social worker at Western State Hospital.
To my union siblings,
I’m writing this to you immediately after the conclusion of a 15+ hour bargaining session with management, and I have to tell you… we need you. All of you.
We’re fighting for gains. OFM is fighting to take away things we already have right now.
Not only are they saying no to the most basic improvements to working conditions, they’re actually proposing takeaways, including cuts at 24/7 institutions like Green Hill School and Western State Hospital that are suffering the most acute staffing shortages and assaults on the job.
You aren’t going to accept a two-year contract with no real wage increases.
They think you won’t care. That you won’t do anything about it. But I know differently.
We are running out of time and management’s lack of preparation, respect, or even care for the work you do was obvious. They were completely clueless about the realities of your job. What you do, who you serve, why it’s important.
I thought it was important to mention the 15+ hours because management wanted to quit after 8 hours and it was every member of your bargaining team that kept them at the table (well, some of them… a lot of your agencies couldn’t even be bothered to stay the entire time).
This after they FINALLY gave us their insulting compensation proposal today, even though we’ve been bargaining with them since April. Even if the Office of Financial Management won’t, your bargaining team will always show up prepared and ready to bargain in good faith.
When I say their proposals were downright disrespectful, that’s an understatement. You have been doing more with less, year after year after year, while management continues to give you unmanageable workloads, deny you proper PPE, and ignore on-the-job injuries.
Take Action for a Fair Contract
Together, we’re going to:
- Rally this afternoon/evening in Tacoma, Seattle, Olympia, Spokane, Bellingham, Union Gap and Sequim and bring some friends with you too!
- Bring this flyer to your favorite local businesses and send to [email protected] or tag us @wfsec28 on social media so we can show that the public, who depends on us, is in our corner
- Participate in statewide walkouts on September 10. #WalkoutforWashington. You can register to lead a walkout here. Walkouts scheduled thus far will be published tomorrow, so you can RSVP to a walkout near you or lead your own if none are scheduled near you. Stay tuned for that link. Learn more and help drive turnout with this flyer.
- Call the Governor's Office by texting UNITED to 237-263 (about 450 calls have been made, we need much more to move the Governor!)
We DEMAND fair compensation and good faith bargaining.
Folks… we talk about being WFSE Strong… but that only works when we all stand together. Because if we don’t stand up to them now, after you all carried us through the pandemic and the recession, they will just keep walking all over us.
We need to get loud and demand the respect we deserve. Let the state know that we will never quit and that we aren’t going to accept these insults any longer. I know you care about your communities and your neighbors and the people we serve, so show them that.
Participate in these actions and let them know that we’re ready to keep going and do whatever we need to do to get you a fair contract. I won’t stop fighting for that, and neither will the rest of your bargaining team.
Will you fight with us?
In solidarity,
Mike Yestramski
Learn more about where we stand at all our bargaining tables in this press release.