This is the weekly Federation Hotline updated March 30.
BULLETIN: Important developments in wake of Rally to Save UW Laundry
As you recall, the University of Washington has announced the proposed closure and contracting out of the UW Consolidated Laundry – and displacement of 120 workers. These workers rallied on the main UW campus Wednesday (March 28) as they take their fight to the community, campus and corridors of power.
Here’s a great mainstream media news story on the rally from the Seattle Weekly:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/workers-protest-uw-laundry-closure/
But on Thursday, less than 24 hours after WFSE/AFSCME Council 28’s Laundry Worker Solidarity rally and right before this weekend’s Easter and Passover holidays, UW Medicine issued 60-day layoff notices to 15 unionized employees at the Consolidated Laundry.
WFSE continues fighting these proposed layoffs, as well as searching for all available ways to prevent a reduction in force at the Consolidated Laundry.
WFSE believes the Consolidated Laundry’s workers provide a vital public service that enables UW Medicine to keep Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital, UW Medical Center and the UW Neighborhood Clinics open and operational.
In response to WFSE's request that University President Ana Mari Cauce meet with UW Medicine Laundry Workers on site at the Consolidated Laundry, Margaret Shepherd, the president's chief strategy officer, emailed the union that President Cauce “would like to meet with them, and she endeavors to do so at the laundry facility.”
The Laundry Workers will be continuing their efforts to engage with the UW Administration, community members and elected officials to keep the Consolidated Laundry open and to oppose the proposed layoffs.
I AM 2018: Fifty years later, the struggle continues
Maurice Spivey, a Memphis sanitation worker and member of AFSCME Local 1733, takes pride in serving his community. Every day, he and his co-workers give back to their neighbors and to the city they call home.
Just as important, Spivey says, “We’re holding up Dr. King’s blood-soaked banner.”
He’s referring to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the 1968 Memphis, Tennessee, Sanitation Workers’ Strike, and the 1,300 sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 – Spivey’s forebears – whose historic strike for better pay, better treatment and above all, for dignity, forced the city of Memphis to meet the union’s long-ignored demands. It was in Memphis that Dr. King fought in solidarity with the workers and where, on April 4, 1968, he gave his life for their cause. Read the rest of this story at AFSCME Now: https://www.afscme.org/now/fifty-years-later-the-struggle-continues
Joining Spivey next week will be a delegation of members from the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28 will be in Memphis next week for a series of commemorations on this 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. WFSE/AFSCME was an early leader in advancing the principles being celebrated next week – we established a Civil Rights Committee in 1962. Watch for updates.
Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future
Just as their AFSCME sisters and brothers from across the country united behind the Memphis sanitation workers in 1968, AFSCME continues shape the conversation about freedom and opportunity for all working people in this country.
AFSCME, in cooperation with The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), has launched the I AM 2018 campaign to renew our commitment to the cause of the Memphis strikers and Dr. King.
On April 2-4, tens of thousands of workers and their allies will gather in Memphis to make their voices heard. Through rallies, workshops, panel discussions, concerts and more, the vital lessons of the past will be used to chart the way forward.
Through I AM 2018, AFSCME and COGIC will train grassroots activists to re-ignite a national conversation around the issues of racial and economic justice, and lift up the voices of working people in the 2018 elections and beyond.
Learn more about I AM 2018: https://iam2018.org/home/
In case you missed it: Monday April 2, WFSE Member D.C. Debrief with Congressman Denny Heck
Are you concerned about how the political climate in “the other Washington” may impact your work, family or pocketbook as a state employee here in Washington state?
If you are, our union has put together a D.C. Debrief with U.S. Representative, Congressman Denny Heck (10th Congressional Dist.). Please join us for a briefing on the newly signed Federal budget, the upcoming Janus decision, followed by a Q&A with the Congressman.
- RSVP ONLINE HERE: https://bit.ly/2GaVitb
- Invited: You, your family and coworkers
- When: 5:30 p.m., this Monday, April 2
- Where: Lacey City Hall, 420 College St. SE, Lacey WA
Great week for our priority legislation
In the past eight days, Federation members saw several of our priority bills signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee.
In signing a package of working family labor bills March 23, the governor brought up the Janus Case and outlined the harm it poses for not only public workers, but public services as well. A decision is expected soon from the United States Supreme Court in the Janus Case that targets public employees and their unions. If this case succeeds it will be a setback for our country's middle class. See video of those remarks from our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wfsec28/posts/10155651381263422
That same day the governor also signed other priority bills, including:
- The bill expanding PSERS (the Public Safety Employees Retirement System) to cover DSHS and VA institutions workers in high-risk jobs (SHB 1558), bringing an earlier retirement age for those who are eligible and for whom it makes sense (video at: https://www.facebook.com/wfsec28/posts/10155651641858422 );
- The bill expanding Interpreter services (2SSB 6245); and
- HB 2669, to leave no doubt and add all part-time employees to civil service.
The day before (March 22), Inslee signed HB 2611 that gives Community Corrections officers and specialists the same post-incident privileged communications protections as other law enforcement officers when talking to peer support counselors.
More on Janus and the PSERS bill coming in the April edition of Our View, our social media/cable TV newsmagazine. Watch for it at wfse.org and our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/wfsec28/
Reminder: WSDOT Worker Memorial event April 4
Please join WSDOT in Olympia for our annual Worker Memorial to honor our fallen workers and re-enforce our safety message for workers and the public.
The state Department of Transportation’s 2018 Worker Memorial Event will be 10 a.m., next Wednesday, April 4, in Olympia.
It will take place at Office Building 2 (the DSHS building next to WSDOT Headquarters), 1115 Washington St. S.E., Olympia, WA 98501.
This is the agency’s annual event honoring fallen and injured DOT workers and reminds everyone about the importance of work zone safety as the busy spring and summer construction season begins.
If you wish to attend, RSVP to Susan Neff at (360) 705-7715 or [email protected].
Bargaining update
The DSHS Supplemental Bargaining Team kicked off supplemental (agency-specific) bargaining Thursday (March 29). Team members on hand were: Rick Hertzog, Gabe Hall, Dave Greenman, Steve Segall, Anne Hinojosa, Steve Fossum, Sue Henricksen, Patricia Loving, Amy Spiegel, Julianne Moore and Sean Dannen.
Shared leave requests:
IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Carolyn Wiggen, an information technology specialist 2 with the Employment Security Department in Lacey and a member of Local 443, has been approved for shared leave. She is requesting shared leave to cover recovery from her surgeries because of an on-the-job injury. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Felicia Wright at (360) 902-9532 or your human resource office.
IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Delores Washington, a patient services specialist 2 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and a member of Local 3488, has been approved for shared leave. She is requesting shared leave donations to cover the time she will be missing while she recovers from her second surgery in eight months. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Laurie Howard at (206) 744-9228 or your human resource office.
IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Brenda Britton, a customer services specialist 2 with the Department of Labor and Industries in Spokane and a member of Local 1221, is recovering from injuries suffered in a recent automobile accident, including a severe concussion, cervical sprain and an acute jaw injury. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Laura Cadwell at (360) 902-5588.
IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Julianna Lloyd, a fiscal analyst 1 with the Department of Health in Tumwater and a member of Local 443, has been approved for shared leave. She is requesting shared leave to cover the time she will miss during her major surgeries. She will be out for an undetermined time for treatments and extended recovery. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Kim Kenderesi at (360) 236-4058 or your human resource office.
That’s it for now.
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