Wildfire Leave | Disaster Relief | Respect for Frontline Workers

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• Details on members' new Wildfire Leave benefit
• Disaster relief resources for union members
• Actions we’re taking to demand respect for public workers and REJECT the failed policies being proposed by Governor Ferguson’s team and leadership at our higher ed institutions at the negotiating table

Following Governor Ferguson’s statewide emergency declaration, WFSE-represented workers have mobilized to protect our communities.

DNR firefighters, foresters and heavy equipment operators are on the ground controlling the blazes. 

WSDOT road crews are clearing hazards and keeping evacuation routes open. 

Analysts and logistics coordinators at the Military Dept’s Emergency Management Division are coordinating the multi-agency response.

At Riverside State Park, when the fire was about the jump the river, WFSE State Parks members got everyone out of the park safely and stuck around to close the park gates to ensure nobody else would enter.

These stories of heroism from our members and other public workers will continue to roll in.

Members at Lakeland Village and Eastern State Hospital saved residents from the 2023 Grey Fire in Medical Lake, pushing folks over a mile in wheelchairs to safety.

Wildfire Leave and Disaster Relief

The expanded Wildfire Leave Benefit we won in many 2025-27 union contracts is now in effect under the Governor's emergency declaration for members ordered to evacuate or who have lost homes. 

Check your agreement for details at wfse.org/all-contracts. You can search Wildfire to find the relevant article or look at the table of contents for the Leave sections of the contract.

Emergency Cash Assistance for Union Members

If you are a member and have been impacted financially, learn more about emergency disaster assistance from the Foundation for Working Families (https://wslc.org/ffwf/).

WFSE created the fund in 2007 in response to major flooding in Chehalis, and it is now administered by the Washington State Labor Council and benefits all union members in Washington. 100% of donations go to union members in need.

When fires tore through Spokane County in 2022, WFSE’s Executive Board voted overwhelmingly to contribute $200,000 to the Foundation for Working Families.

When historic floods inundated our state in December of 2025, WFSE and many locals again answered the call.

Additionally, when AFSCME members are impacted by large-scale natural disasters and emergencies, our national union can activate the AFSCME Fallen Heroes Fund to provide additional relief.

In 2023, AFSCME activated the fund to assist our members in Spokane county as well as the many AFSCME members impacted by the fires in Maui.

We will provide an update when we know if the AFSCME fund will be activated.

Other Relief Options

Get help from the Northwest American Red Cross by clicking here or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.

The Employee Assistance Program, available to most Washington public workers also has resources.

Please listen to local advisories and follow all instructions from emergency responders.

Life-Saving Workers Face Cuts and “Not a Dime” in Better Pay

The same people responsible for protecting Washingtonians from wildfires, who step into harms way to save lives, who face recurring cuts hampering their ability to do their work, were told by the governor's negotiations team that there isn’t “a dime” more in pay for them in our 2027-29 contracts.

Click here to send a message to Governor Ferguson’s team and leadership at our higher education systemto reject cuts and invest in the people who do this lifesaving work.

The work by emergency response folks is rightly all over the headlines, but it’s a good time to remember that many of our members protect Washingtonians from hazards every bit as dangerous as wildfires, and that work is often ignored, unsung, and underfunded. 

• Our Community Corrections members tirelessly keep tabs on individuals in our communities who have violated supervision—operating 200 positions down with a staggering backlog of 13,000 warrants.
• Our DSHS, DCYF, and DVA members are the lifeline for the most vulnerable Washingtonians, providing access to food and shelter and medical care.
• LNI members ensure all Washington workers can come home in one piece.

Climate change is making wildfires worse and more widespread. Our elected officials know this, yet continue to cut wildfire prevention funding and shortchange the workers doing these life-or-death jobs. 

It's the same disproven approach of cuts and austerity made following the Great Recession that saved no money and helped create ballooning liability lawsuits for the state, which totaled $1.3 billion in just the last two years, in addition to needless suffering for Washingtonians. 

Cuts to DNR in the last couple years increased the risk of wildfires and the cost of wildfire suppression

Cuts to DNR in the last couple years increased the risk of wildfires and the cost of wildfire suppression, according to the agency. Wildfire prevention funding was cut by half, from $120 in the funding framework from 2021 to $60 million, hampering workers ability to prepare for worsening fire seasons. 

“Years of cuts and ballooning workloads for employees in high-stakes jobs, like protecting people and property from wildfires, protecting vulnerable children, maintaining public safety, and caring for intellectually and developmentally disabled folks, is a recipe for avoidable suffering and billions in liability,” said WFSE President Mike Yestramski, a psychiatric social worker at Western State Hospital.

Historic federal cuts to Medicaid, which poor and disabled Washingtonians depend on, mean our members work is more needed now than ever.

Which is precisely why what funding is available for our 2027-29 contracts must go where Washingtonians directly benefit: core services. 

Learn more and get involved here.