The Road to a Fair Union Contract

If you’ve been keeping track of our work to set the stage for this round of negotiations, you know that our members have done exactly what we needed to do over the last year to prevent backsliding and put ourselves in a position to push forward at the table rather than have to claw our way back. 

• We stopped the legislature from canceling out our raises and jacking up our healthcare premiums in 2025.
• We made history and passed the Millionaires Tax, brightening a dim budget outlook with the promise of billions in funding for WFSE members' jobs beginning in 2029.

Members Set Priorities

Members submit ideas for improving our 2027-29 union contracts. All submissions received from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025 are reviewed and vetted by bargaining team members and WFSE’s lead negotiators.

Next, your bargaining team puts together a Bargaining Survey to members can prioritize the issues that matter most to them. Surveys will come out after negotiations have begun. Keep an eye on your Contract page and make sure you are signed up for emails to ensure you receive it. 

Only dues-paying union members can fill out the survey, so make sure to join our union if you want to provide your input.

Bargaining 

WFSE’s lead negotiators and our elected bargaining teams meet and exchanges proposals with the employers’ bargaining teams on wages, benefits and working conditions. Your bargaining team votes on decisions, including whether to accept proposals from management, send back counter-proposals, on so on. 

Proposals related to our compensation will not be shared by either party until June at the earliest, after the state’s next revenue forecast is released.

Member Strength

Our strength as a union comes from our numbers. And that’s especially true when we’re at the negotiating table as well. 

Your bargaining team will send out updates from the bargaining table after every bargaining date. Exact details of proposals and counter-proposals cannot be shared by either party – our members or the employer.

WFSE bargaining teams can let members know how negotiations are going, subjects being discussed, and when and how we need to get loud to make the most impact.

It’s our job to generate awareness and support at our worksites and in our communities and to align our actions with the strategy developed by the bargaining teams elected by the membership.

The more coordination between our membership and our bargaining teams, the better. Use the contact forms on your Contract Pages to send a message directly to your team.

Tentative Agreement and Ratification

Throughout the spring and summer, WFSE bargaining teams will incrementally, article by article, reach a “tentative agreement” or TA with our employers on new language that both sides think should be included in our union contracts. 

Once your team reaches a TA on every article in the contract, the entire Tentative Agreement is sent to dues-paying members so they can vote YES or NO. The vote is to accept the entirety of the Tentative Agreement or not. 

Members will receive the entire TA with new contract language highlighted, a document highlighting major accomplishments, and can visit Voting Assistance Centers (VACs) across the state so they can ask questions about the agreement and get help voting.

Be sure your contact information is up to date and that you are subscribed to WFSE emails. 

Governor’s Budget

The financial components in our contract need to be funded by the legislature. In order to be considered during the 2027 legislative session, a contract ratified by our members must be sent to the Governor’s Office by October 1, 2026.

If the contract is deemed economically feasible by the Governor, it is sent to the legislature which votes to fund or not fund the agreement.

Apply Pressure in the Legislature

No workforce has more at stake in decisions made by elected officials. To fund our contracts, we set the record straight with legislators and the public on how a fair contract supports our communities.

Members rally, share their stories and come to Olympia to lobby their legislators in person to get our contract across the finish line.

Our Contracts are Funded!

Our solidarity, hard work, and strategy have paid off. Together, we have won a fair contract!