How Does Our Vote on Our Contracts Impact Our Future?

All of the collective bargaining agreements (CBA) negotiated this summer reached tentative agreements and were ratified by WFSE members.

Next, we need to lobby the state legislature to vote to fund the economic items in our contracts, the largest of which is the nearly $350 million dollars needed to maintain our healthcare coverage.

Learn more about the process of contract negotiations in our Road to a Fair Union Contract and get involved in our member lobby program, which kicks off in January 2027.

Your contract determines:

• How much you and your family pay for medical care
• How much time you have off
• Your pay
• Your job security
• Your safety on the job
• and much more

The language in our tentative agreements was proposed by, negotiated by, fought for, and endorsed by public workers.

While some employers would not agree to any economic improvements, every bargaining team found creative ways to reach agreements that they could support and would be supported by everyone covered by the contract. Members voted to accept each tentative agreement. Some contracts had unanimous YES votes.

  Find the details of your tentative agreement here.

Against the odds, we defeated the second attempt in a year and a half to increase most public workers healthcare costs, winning nearly $350 million in new funding to maintain the current arrangement where the employer pays 85 percent of costs and we pay 15 percent. 

The work isn’t done. We’re right back in the fight.

Winning a Voice in AI for All

Several WFSE contracts achieved protections from AI this round. But not every contract includes those protections, and they don't go far enough.

That's why it's critical that we pass the AI bargaining bill this legislative session, which begins in January. That legislation would apply to nearly all public workers, not just those covered by WFSE contracts, and would give us a real seat at the table in how it can be used in the public sector.

The technology could be an existential threat to many of our members' jobs as well as the quality of the services Washingtonians depend on.

This will be the third session we're trying to pass the bill. We enter this legislative session with momentum. As federal funds dry up and our employers are pushed to cut costs, now is the time for public workers to win a voice in this transformational technology.

Our question to legislators this session is simple: "Whose side are you on?"

Voting NO on I-645

We have less than two months to convince as many of our coworkers as possible to vote NO on I-645, the billionaire-backed initiative that would repeal the Millionaires’ Tax, make our state budget crisis worse, and hurting our chances of winning better compensation when we return to the bargaining table.

Learn more about the initiative at NoOnI655.com and download the flyer below here.