Your Contract Your Voice: Fight for Our Next Contract Today
Let’s beat the odds again.
Last bargaining cycle, we mobilized en masse and refused to accept a bad deal for public workers, winning 5 percent general wage increases and hundreds of job-class specific increases when budget projections were down and our employers were offering 1% over two years.
Then the legislature tried to take away everything we’d just won at the negotiating table, AND jack up our healthcare costs, during the 2025 legislative session. We said no, and emerged from the largest budget crisis in our state's history with no economic takeaways.
Still, we suffered avoidable layoffs thanks to an upside-down tax code that predictably produces budget shortfalls. and puts our pay and benefits on the line We need to convince our elected officials to fix it, or we'll be in the same boat when we negotiate our next contract.
Negotiations for most WFSE members' 2027-2029 contracts will begin in the spring of 2026. The fight for a fair contract begins today.
Let's build our next contract from the ground up.
WFSE members are involved at every step of the process below. You can get active in this fight today and make your voice heard–but you must be a member to participate! If you’re not a member yet, make sure to join today.
Spring 2025 - Ongoing | How much money is there for public services?
Action item: Send a message to your elected officials here
Drastic cuts at the state and federal level will slash the pot of money we'll have to negotiate for when we enter contract negotiations in the spring of 2026.
If Washington state revenue forecasts fall in June and/or in September, we may end up in a special legislative session defending our raises and jobs yet again. Even without a special session, we should be communicating with elected officials about the impact of the cuts they just made so they don't cut further during the next legislative session in January 2026.
And if anti-worker extremists in U.S. Congress go forward with the largest cuts in history to Medicaid, which makes up almost a third of Washington's state budget, we'll be hard pressed to defend our current pay let alone negotiate for any improvements for 2027-2029.
Use the link below to write and call our elected officials in both Washingtons, demanding that they balance our upside-down tax code here in Washington and stop drastic cuts to Medicaid to pay for billionaire tax breaks.
- By the numbers: The potential impacts of federal cuts on WFSE members jobs
- Action item: Learn more about AFSCME's campaign against federal cuts here.
Summer 2025 - Winter 2025 | What will we fight for?
Our members decide what goes into our union contracts. If you're not familiar with yours, find it here. It details all your rights and protections at work.
WFSE members can submit contract proposals all year, but we recommend waiting to submit until you're familiar with the new 2025-2027 contracts that go into effect in July before you decide what changes you want to it.
When it’s time to go to the table, bargaining teams and staff review these proposals and prepare to bring them to negotiations.
- Action item: Submit contract proposals for your our 2027-2029 union contract
- Action item: Not a union member? Join here. Only union members can submit proposals.
Fall 2025 - Winter 2025 | Who will negotiate our contracts?
Union members elect their bargaining teams. Bargaining team members negotiate your union contract. Consider serving on your next bargaining team, or nominating a knowledgeable coworker who you’d like to represent you.
Bargaining team members carry our concerns and priorities to the negotiating table and fight for us there. It’s our job to back them up by following the process closely and being ready to take action when needed.
Email is the primary means that nomination forms and election PINs are sent out. Make sure you're subscribed to union emails before this process begins so you can participate.
- Action item: Not a union member? Join here. Only union members can nominate and vote on bargaining team members.
- Your action item: Ensure you are getting emails from your union. If not, fill out this form.
- Your action item: Nominate and elect bargaining teams (nomination links will be posted here when they are live)
Spring 2026 - Summer 2026 | What will we prioritize?
As enter negotiations, your elected bargaining team will send out a survey so that members can make their priorities known.
The survey is an important tool for teams to understand what matters most to you. Teams review their members’ surveys in detail and use them as a roadmap for bargaining. Make sure your bargaining team is able to reach you by verifying that your personal email address is on file.
You can help them win the contract YOU want by filling out the bargaining survey and making sure your coworkers do, too.
- Action item: Not a union member? Join here. Only union members can set priorities during bargaining.
- Your action item: Ensure you are getting emails from your union. If not, fill out this form.
- Your action item: Fill out the bargaining survey for your contract (nomination links will be posted here when they are live)
Spring 2026 | Negotiations for our 2027-2029 contracts begin
Finally, we’re ready to start negotiating, and we're ready to win a strong contract with YOUR VOICE represented.
During bargaining, your team will send out updates after each session with management. We’ll also reach out when it’s time to take action like our 2024 Walkout for Washington, when thousands of WFSE members turned out at hundreds of sites across Washington to let the state’s negotiators know we meant business. After the Walkout, stalled negotiations began moving again. When we take action together, it works!
Your union contract is a powerful tool. The thousands of public employees who make up our union create each contract together, pushing for needed change and addressing issues head-on.