The cowbells were ringing and the car horns were honking down the streets of Olympia early Monday afternoon. State workers, clad in bright green shirts, thrusted picket signs with slogans like “Living wages for all,” as they walked off the job in a demonstration.
“ We are here because we love the work that we do, we love the state that we live in, and we want to provide services for the people that we do provide them for,” said Ashley Fueston, vice president of the Washington Federation of State Employees, WFSE, which represents these workers. “But it's hard for us to provide them when there's no support, we're consistently losing staffing, our workplaces aren't safe, members are afraid that they won't make it home to see their families by the end of the day.”
WFSE is in contract negotiations with negotiators for the Washington state Office of Financial Management and the governor’s office. They need to reach an agreement by Oct. 1. But the union has said the state isn’t agreeing to priorities for members, including stronger protections for workers’ safety, or any raises.
“They have told us there is not a dime authorized for our contract,” Fueston said. “We're here and we're not going to continue to be quiet. We can't just keep being ignored and swept under the rug.”
In response, thousands of workers walked off the job at 125 job sites Monday. They rallied outside state agencies all around Washington; in places like Aberdeen, Spokane, Bellingham and Richland.
Fueston said the union has brought proposals to the table to address worker safety, discipline and the grievance process. Some of these proposals, Fueston said, would save the state money.
“But we've seen an unwillingness to even move on those issues, so we're really out here fighting for that,” Fueston said.
Contract negotiations cover about 40,000 employees who work for state agencies including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state Department of Transportation and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
Fueston said members want things to change at their jobs so that workers stay around.
According to the Washington state Office of Financial Management, for the past four fiscal years, the average state staff turnover was just under 10%. The majority of those were resignations.
“We have seen a recruitment and retention problem within the state for a while now, and the governor knows this,” Fueston said.
When asked for a response on the demands of state workers’ and the walkout, Brionna Aho, communications director for Gov. Bob Ferguson emailed a statement.
“Collective bargaining in times of budget crisis will always be very challenging,” Aho wrote. “As he develops his budget, the governor is focused on preserving core services for the most vulnerable people in our state. In working to accomplish that goal, the governor will face many difficult choices and understands not everyone will be happy with his decisions.”
Read the audio transcript here.
