Budget Updates

As we get more information on potential layoffs and reductions brought on by the recession-affected budget, we will get information out.

Remember, all impacts of proposed layoffs must be bargained. That’s where your contract can mitigate impacts. And that process can also save many jobs.

The DSHS Statewide Union-Management Communications Committee met May 19 and got an overview of the situation there. The agency pegged the number of cuts at 500 positions. But UMCC at other levels can get a better fix on those numbers and our hope is they do not end up that high.

For instance, the DSHS Juvenile Rehabilitation Statewide Union-Management Communications Committee met June 3. Cuts on the table appear to be in the 10s, not 100s. Demands to bargain have been filed at each of the four JRA institutions to preserve the rights of members targeted for layoffs.

On JRA Probation and Parole, it’s hoped that most of the 41 positions targeted for layoff with the elimination of the Enhanced Parole Program can be saved through a new “Re-Entry Program.” But in JRA, the big cloud hanging over everything is the budget proviso calling for a possible elimination of 250 beds.