October 27, 2009

Call NOW! Urge a YES VOTE on the Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962)


Call NOW!   888-460-0813

Urge your representative to vote YES on the Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962)
  • Tell your member of Congress we need health care reform that doesn't tax our benefits, holds employers accountable and includes a robust public option.
  • Calls are especially needed now to Representatives Brian Baird (3rd CD) and Adam Smith (9th CD).

  • The House is expected to vote as early as Friday, Nov. 6. 
  • A National Day of Action has been scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5.

Bargaining Team ballots in the mail; due back November 13

The ballots for positions on the Federation's 2011-2013 bargaining teams are in the mail and are due back Nov. 13.

In General Government, elections will be among Federation members by their respective policy group:
  • Corrections - Two candidates are vying for one seat.
  • Transportation - Five candidates are running for two seats.
  • Employment Security - Only two candidates were nominated for the two seats, so they have  won by acclamation: Kim Arnold and Steve Pointec.
  • Labor and Industries - Six candidates are running for two seats.
  • Natural Resources - Eleven are running for two seats.
  • Human Services - Seventeen are running for four positions.
  • Institutions - Thirteen are running for four seats.
  • Miscellaneous - Fifteen candidates are vying for three seats.
In the Higher Education Coalition - the group of 12 Community Colleges and three four-year institutions, there is one big change this bargaining cycle. The administration at Western Washington University has opted out and will bargain separately this round. Meanwhile, for the first time, Eastern Washington University will be in the coalition; that under the law is via a decision made by the EWU administration.

Here is a rundown of the Higher Education Coalition elections:
  • Community Colleges of Spokane - Five candidates are vying for three seats.
  • Everett CC - One nomination came in for two positions, so Max Phipps has won by acclamation. The WFSE president will appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.
  • Green River CC -- - One nomination came in for two positions, so Todd Henderson has won by acclamation. The WFSE president will appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.
  • Seattle Community College District - Three nominations for three positions, so Betsy McConnell-Gutierrez, Milton Smith and Matthew Davenhall have won by acclamation.
  • Shoreline CC - One nomination for one position, so Sam Bess has won by acclamation.
  • Tacoma CC - Two nominations for two seats, so Angie Simpson and Laurie Harmon have won by acclamation.
  • The Evergreen State College - Three nominations for three seats, so Kirk Talmadge, Lana Brewster and Erik Carlson have won by acclamation.
  • Eastern Washington University - Nine candidates are vying for three seats on the coalition team.
  • Whatcom CC - One nomination for one seat, so Amy Weaver has won by acclamation.
  • No nominations came in from six coalition institutions, so the WFSE/AFSCME president will also appoint to fill those vacancies: Bellevue CC (1); Central Washington University (2); Centralia CC (1); Lower Columbia College (2); Peninsula College (1); and South Puget Sound CC (2).
Washington State University - One nomination came in for nine positions, so Eric Needham has been elected by acclamation and the WFSE/AFSCME president will appoint the remaining eight vacancies.

Western Washington University - Six nominations came in for nine seats, so Mary Ann Armstrong, Ron Rawls, Brandon Taylor, Timothy Harvey, Steven Vanko and Josef Bailey have all been elected by acclamation. The WFSE/AFSCME president will appoint the remaining three vacancies.

University of Washington - The 17-member UW Bargaining Team is elected by geographic location based on the formula set out in the Local 1488 constitution. The upshot is there will be only one election because no one for the other positions was nominated or there were fewer nominations than seats available, so the nominees are elected by acclamation. The one election will be among four nominees for two seats allotted to the UW Main Campus Trades Bargaining Unit. Elected by acclamation are: Paul Bentson (nominated for one of Harborview Medical Center's two at-large seats); Joe Davenport (nominated for one of two UW Main Campus at-large positions); John Miller (the sole nominee for UW Bothell's one seat); Thomas Fowler (nominated for one of the UW Medical Center's two at-large positions); and Remedios Peters (nominated for one the UW Main Campus's two custodian seats). The WFSE/AFSCME president will appoint the remaining vacancies: Harborview at-large (1); HMC Public Safety Officers (1); UW Medical Center at-large (1); UW Tacoma (1); PAC Lab/Friday Harbor/Consolidated Laundry (1); UW Main Campus at-large (1); UW Main Campus Library (2); UW Main Campus custodians (1).

Pushback against DOC cuts builds

Just about everyone now acknowledges that the cuts in DOC Community Corrections are a threat to public safety and other alternatives are needed to avoid what the Seattle P-I reported "are a tragedy waiting to happen."
The P-I, KIRO radio in Seattle, the Seattle Times, KHQ TV in Spokane and other media outlets have shed light on the harmful DOC cuts. It shows they will not be swept under the rug and the public is beginning to realize the billions in cuts imposed by the Legislature are harming them personally.

The P-I reports that since July, the Department of Corrections has ended community supervision of nearly 10,000 offenders deemed low-risk. DOC Secretary Eldon Vail told the P-I that translated to 60 layoffs so far in Community Corrections, "but we're going to get to about 250 layoffs in Community Corrections within the next month or so."

Further cuts may be coming as the state faces another $1.7 billion deficit.

But other sensible solutions are entering the public debate. The P-I reported one source as saying "there are billions spent for outdated tax loopholes, and eliminating or delaying those would be better than trimming from a Corrections staff that's already down to the bone."

The other cuts have come from Senate Bill 5288, "the legislation that ended the supervision of thousands of offenders (and) also reduced the community-custody terms for higher risk offenders, such as sexual predators and people convicted of violent crimes," the P-I reported.

On top of pressure from the union, Seattle City Council members, five area mayors, five county sheriffs, Seattle's police chief and the U.S. marshals recently signed a joint letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire and Vail to protest some of the cuts.

Vail told the P-I: "We try to make the best decisions we can to do the least damage to public safety." He added: "I am pretty concerned about, if there is another round of reductions that we can't yet articulate or identify, because we are really down now to supervising - particularly in Community Corrections - the highest risk offenders. I don't know who else to get rid of."

Open Enrollment for Health Insurance

OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR HEALTH INSURANCE started Oct. 26 and runs until Nov. 30. Significant changes are coming to co-pays and deductibles, depending on your plan. This is your chance to switch to a new plan. Also be aware that Nov. 30 is the deadline to verify the eligibility of any family members you cover. The Public Employees Benefits Board sent out only one open enrollment notice, so don't overlook the chance to change plans. Benefits fairs start Oct. 27 in Cheney, the UW and Spokane. For full information and a full list of benefits fairs, go to www.pebb.hca.wa.gov.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR KING COUNTY MEMBERS:

King County election officials have laid out the ballot there in a way that it might be easy to overlook Initiative 1033. It appears in the lower left corner below instruction panels. So, please don't overlook it. Just about all labor, business and community groups recommend a vote of NO on 1033 because it will add to the deficit and force even deeper budget cuts.

October 23, 2009

Movement to Save RHC's Rolls into Buckley at Rainier School Town Hall Meeting

The move to close Rainier School in Buckley and four other centers like it is part of a political agenda to wipe out residential habilitation centers—a ruse that will actually drive up the deficit and kill some of this state’s most vulnerable citizens.



That’s the consensus from legislators, parents and Federation members at a standing-room only town hall meeting to save Rainier School Oct. 22.

More than 80 Local 491 members, parents, local elected officials, firefighters and community supporters joined with two key legislators the town hall meeting in the Buckley City Council chambers.

The Save Rainier School town hall meeting followed by three days the all-day picketing of the governor’s Spokane regional office by more than 100 Lakeland Village Local 573 members.

It’s all part of a pro-residential habilitation center (RHC) alliance to fight the recent consultant’s report recommendation to close Rainier School and Frances Haddon Morgan Center and decimate by 90 percent Lakeland Village, Fircrest School and Yakima Valley School.

Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-31st Dist., who organized the Rainier School town hall meeting, made it clear the fight is not just a local fight, but also a statewide mobilization.

“All the RHCs are targeted for termination,” Hurst told the standing-room only crowd in the Buckley City Council chambers.

Hurst’s seatmate, Rep. Dan Roach, R-31st Dist., warned of a “domino effect” that “if one (RHC) goes, they’ll all go.”

They handed out a call to action to generate letters to the governor, the state budget director and the top leaders in the state House and Senate (see below).

The legislators and others in the audience were disturbed by an Oct. 19 news report in which the governor, commenting on the adverse reaction to the consultant’s report, appeared to suggest one institution should be played off against another.


“The message to us to not cut anything really is not helpful,” The Olympian quoted Gov. Chris Gregoire. “We need to be working together and figuring out how to get from where we are to the end….”

The governor continued: “Rather than tell me it’s not a good study … tell me what a good study would show. What should we close? The days of saying, ‘this is bad,’ ‘shouldn’t do that,’ ‘don’t cut this,’ and so on are gone. … This is a day of, you know: ‘This is not the right thing to cut; you should cut over here.’ ‘This is not the right thing to close; you should close over here.’ That’s the dialogue we have to engage in right now.”

Meanwhile, at the Rainier School town hall meeting, Hurst and Roach made up a high-powered bi-partisan team that is crying foul on the consultant’s report and the real motives behind the push to close Rainier and the other RHCs.

The 31st District representatives said the forces that hate RHCs have seized on the economic downturn to wage a political fight to close the facilities under the guise of fiscal restraint.

“This is not about people and finances…,” Hurst said. “They (the anti-RHC forces) believe they should not exist.”

When California drastically downsized and forced the severally developmentally disabled residents into the community, the mortality rate shot up 66 percent, Roach said.

“That is something they (the anti-RHC forces) can’t ignore,” Roach said.

Closure won’t save any money, but will actually cost at least $1.6 million a year in transition costs, they said.

“There is no monetary gain on the state level, it costs more money and it will cost lives,” Roach said.

Local 491 President Joy Cage said the argument that RHC residents need to be in the “community” is misleading.

“Rainier School is not an institution, it’s a community,” Cage said.

Rainier School residents and those at all RHCs are valued and accepted in their community, she said.

“They got dignity and they got respect in the community of Rainier School,” Cage said.

The consultant’s report advocates moving most residents into a community network that right now doesn’t exist. “We’re concerned about people’s health and safety,” Cage said.

 “It’s not about money, it’s about what’s going to happen to our people in the community,” Cage added.

Parent Bob Gee said his daughter Angela has lived at Rainier School for 30 of her 46 years.

“I want my daughter to have consistent care,” he said.

He scoffed at the anti-RHC forces that distort the Americans with Disabilities Act to imply that those like Angela face discrimination because they choose to live at Rainier School.

“I would dare you to ask Angela if she feels discriminated against,” Gee said.

He said Rainier School and the other RHCs have underutilized capacity to provide respite care for home-cared disabled clients so parents and family caregivers can get a breather.

CALL TO ACTION FROM REPS. HURST AND ROACH

Here is the call to action issued by Rep. Hurst and Rep. Roach at the Oct. 22 Save Rainier School Town Hall meeting. We’ve modified it to apply to all RHCs because of the town hall meeting’s consensus that if one RHC goes, they all go in a domino effect.

Get the word out!

It’s important that we get the word out about protecting Rainier School, Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Lakeland Village, Fircrest School and Yakima Valley School. Everyone needs to contact these four people and let them know, in your own words, what these RHCs mean to you, and how the closure would affect you, those you love, and your community.

A personal letter goes a long way, and is by far the most impactful way to get your message through. Although even an e-mail can make an impact if it is written with a strong, heart-felt message, a personal letter is always the best. Try to encourage your friends and family members to send individual letters as well.

Victor Moore, Director
Washington State Office of Financial Management
P.O. Box 43113
Olympia, WA  98504-3113

Governor Christine Gregoire
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA  98504-0002

House Speaker Frank Chopp
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA  98504-0600

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown
P.O. Box 40403
Olympia, WA  98504-0403

October 20, 2009

Rainier School Town Hall Meeting Thursday

State Rep. Christopher Hurst of the 31st District on Thursday holds a town hall meeting in Buckley to mobilize opposition to the proposed closure of Rainier School. The town hall meeting will be 7:30 p.m., this Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Buckley City Council Chambers, Multipurpose Room, 811 Main St., Buckley. Fellow 31st District Rep. Dan Roach, Buckley Mayor Pat Johnson and other elected officials will be on hand. Please attend!

BULLETIN Regarding Electronic Home Monitoring Issue in DOC

The Federation and its Corrections team in no way bargained to implement the Electronic Home Monitoring policy. 

In fact, a demand to bargain its impacts was filed Sept. 14.  A bargaining session on that issue is set for Oct. 21. 

In filing the demand the bargain, the union made it clear it did not appreciate management representations that somehow the union and its DOC team OK’d the controversial policy. 

The union did take part in informal discussions and has attempted to get the issue addressed at statewide union/management communications meetings. In fact, DOC an Oct. 15 memo to staff acknowledged negotiations did not take place.

Lakeland Village workers picket governor's Spokane office Monday in wake of closure report

Oct. 16, 2009 • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    State direct care workers for some of this state's most profoundly developmentally disabled citizens at Lakeland Village will picket Gov. Chris Gregoire's Spokane office Monday in the wake of a consultant's report calling for a radical downsizing at the Medical Lake facility.

    The members of Local 573 of the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME will picket from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., this Monday, Oct. 19, at the Governor's Eastern Washington Regional Office, W. 1611 Indiana in Spokane. Brief remarks and a march will take place starting at about Noon.

    The consultant's report released Oct. 14 would shrink Lakeland Village from its current capacity of 238 residents to only 26 over the next eight years. Lakeland and counterparts in Selah and north of Seattle would become smaller skilled nursing facilities only.

    The Medical Lake City Council on Oct. 6 officially opposed the closure or downsizing of Lakeland Village and the nearby Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women. The consultant's report did not recommend any further reductions at Pine Lodge, but community members still believe legislators may target it.

    This consultant’s report was mandated by the Legislature to recommend a plan to cut 1,580 beds in Corrections, 235 beds in Juvenile Rehabilitation and 250 beds in the residential habilitation centers. The consultants were Christopher Murray and Associates.

###

October 14, 2009

Draft report proposes huge cuts in DOC, JRA, RHCs; get calls and e-mails in

BULLETIN 10/14/09

Draft recommendations would close Maple Lane School in JRA, Ahtanum View in Corrections, Frances Haddon Morgan Center by 2013, Rainier School by 2017, decimate rest of RHC's.

TELL GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATORS: “THE CONSULTANTS GOT IT WRONG. SAVE MAPLE LANE. SAVE AHTANUM VIEW. SAVE RHCS.”

CALL 1-800-562-6000 AND LEAVE COMMENTS ON THE PUBLIC COMMENT PAGE

The state Office of Financial Management today released a consultant’s draft report and asked for public comment on possible huge cuts in juvenile rehabilitation, Corrections and residential habilitation center (DD) institutions.

The draft report floats the idea of:
  • Closing Maple Lane School, a juvenile rehabilitation center in south Thurston County.
  • Closing Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima County where Federation members work with geriatric and seriously ill prisoners.
  • Close Frances Haddon Morgan Center, an RHC in Bremerton, by 2013.
  • Close Rainier School, an RHC in Buckley, by 2017.
  • Decimate the remaining RHCs (Fircrest School in Shoreline, Lakeland Village in Medical Lake and Yakima Valley School in Selah) by making them skilled nursing facilities only with a much smaller number of beds.
The draft report does not include the expected huge costs of transitioning and bulking up other institutions to take up the load.

But OFM is putting out the draft report for public comment. It is imperative that you follow the link here and voice your strong opposition to all the draft recommendations. Don’t get fooled by the public relations ploy of using public comments as an end-run around the fact the entire report is flawed and off base.
  1. SUBMIT FEEDBACK AND IDEAS HERE.  The public comment period is very short, only one week, until Oct. 21. Then, final recommendations will be made to the governor and Legislature Nov. 1. This consultant’s report was mandated by the Legislature to recommend a plan to cut 1,580 beds in DOC, 235 beds in Juvenile Rehabilitation and 250 beds in the residential habilitation centers. The consultants were Christopher Murray and Associates.

  2. THEN, MAKE THE CALL.  Call the governor and your three legislators at 1-800-562-6000 on your personal phone and own time and tell her:

    “The consultants hired under the proviso in Section 130 of the state budget got it wrong. Reject their recommendations. Find another way. Save Maple Lane. Save Ahtanum View. Save the RHCs.”

  3. OR EMAIL THEM YOUR MESSAGE HERE.
All members should call because an injury to one is an injury to all.

Members are already mobilizing, for instance with Maple Lane School Local 1926 and Eastern State Hospital Local 782 both meeting tonight. Lakeland Village Local 573 will picket the governor’s Spokane office all day Monday. 

Links:

Feasibility Study for the Closure of State Institutional Facilities (DRAFT REPORT)
Check back here for regular updates. Send those e-mails. Make those calls.

UPDATE: 2:45 P.M. 10/14/09:

In the JRA report, the consultants conclude (pp. 25-26) that "the data do not support closure of either Green Hill or Maple Lane." They say closing either would not allow enough capacity in the rest of the system to handle the youthful offenders. But they include the recommendation to close Maple Lane because it gets to the numbers mandated by the Legislature. "While we want to make it clear that we think this is a bad idea, in conformance with the proviso, the final report will include a plan to close Maple Lane School."

ALSO: House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt calls into question JRA study.

In the DOC report, while AVCC is targeted for closure, Pine Lodge is not. The consultants say (p. 13) there is no ability to further reduce beds of female offenders. "The population forecast and the projected future need for beds by security level does not permit closing additonal beds." In fact, one of the options considered was reopening recently closed beds at Pine Lodge. But they instead recommend the new unit at Mission Creek to accommodate additional minimum security beds for female offenders.
RHCs: One recommendation is to immediately place children currently living at the RHCs into state-operated children's intensive care homes, meaning a transfer of current Fircrest staff and resources to a community supported living setting.

By 2013, FHMC would close, eight cottages at Rainier would close, two cottages at Fircrest, two cottages at Lakeland and one cottage at Yakima Valley. By June 30, 2019, the RHC capacity would be Fircrest 48, Lakeland 26 and Yakima Valley 38. FHMC and Rainier would be closed by then.

###

October 13, 2009

GA Motor Pool Workers Say YES to WFSE/AFSCME!

Another group of state employees now has contract protections with the Federation.

Non-supervisory workers in the Motor Pool Section of the state Department of General Administration have chosen the Federation as their union.

Nine of the 13 employees signed authorization cards. That was enough to win union representation under "cross-check" rules.

The Public Employment Relations Commission conducted the tally Oct. 8.

Don't Delay in Preparing for Possible Green River Valley Flooding, Swine Flu Outbreak

GREEN RIVER VALLEY: State, local and federal officials are coordinating plans for possible winter flooding in the Green River Valley below the Howard Hanson Dam.

Some 800 WFSE/AFSCME families potentially sit in harm's way in the following zip codes: 98001, 98002, 98055, 98030, 98031, 98057, 98092 and 98188.

Several state offices, including three DSHS CSOs and a Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Office, also sit in the flood zone.

Your agency may have specific flood plans. But a good source of general flood information is on the state Emergency Management Website at http://www.emd.wa.gov/.

And you can help fund the Federation-inspired relief fund set up through the Washington State Labor Council, the Foundation for Working Families. A portion of profits from the sale of union-produced coffee goes to the Foundation for Working Families. To find out more, go to www.wfse.org and look for the "flash" panel on the home page.

SWINE FLU: Good information on precautions to take is also available on the state Emergency Management Website at http://www.emd.wa.gov/.

It's Coming Down to the Wire to Defeat Initiative 1033 and Approve Referendum 71

Absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election are due out Friday. With most counties now voting by absentee ballot, remember that the Federation is recommending a No vote on Initiative 1033, Tim Eyman's latest ballot measure to further choke off funding for the services you provide. Times are tough enough. Let's not make them worse. Go to www.wfse.org for more information on why Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033 is a bad idea.

Also don't forget: The Federation is recommending a Yes (Approve) vote on Referendum 71, what the Tacoma News Tribune today says is simply the "completion of the state's incremental march toward a robust domestic partnership law." In endorsing Ref. 71, the TNT said a yes vote is a vote to "affirm lawmakers' work to complete the job they started two years ago." Don't get caught up in the rhetoric. Ref. 71 is about protecting basic civil rights, and civil rights are fundamental workplace, lunchbox issues.

Renton Technical College Kicks Off Bargaining with Support Event

Members at Renton Technical College, who bargain under a different law than other Federation members, kicked off their first formal day of bargaining Monday with a lunch-and-learn event and walk around campus showing AFSCME green.

Leadership Development Workshop for Unionists of Color Nov. 7

Our workforce and our labor movement are made up of many different faces and we are strongest when we speak with one voice. To rebuild our strength, the labor movement must embrace and reflect the diversity of our workforce and our membership. We must provide our members with the leadership skills to restore opportunity and justice at our workplaces and in society.

To this end, the Diversity Committee of the Washington State Labor Council and the Labor Education and Research Center of The Evergreen State College invite all WSLC-affiliated unions to send rank-and-file and staff members to a Leadership Development Workshop for Unionists of Color to be held Saturday, Nov. 6 at South Seattle Community College's Georgetown Campus, Bldg. C, 6737 Corson Ave. S.

Come learn about the political economy of Washington state, changing workforce demographics, leadership qualities and skills, lessons from state labor history, and more. Registration is $75 per participant, which includes lunch and materials.

Download a flier/registration form at http://www.wslc.org/reports/2009/September/24.htm#Thursday

For more information, contact Juan Jose Bocanegra at 360-918-2726.

October 6, 2009

CONVENTION NEWS: Delegates give Gregoire earful as Budget Office recommendations on closures loom

The legislatively mandated study of possible closures and cuts is due out any day, but delegates to last weekend's 2009 Federation State Convention wasted no time in giving visiting Gov. Chris Gregoire an earful.

News reports say institutions that could be closed include: Green Hill School and Maple Lane School (both juvenile rehabilitation); Pine Lodge and Ahtanum View (Corrections institutions whose employees are represented by the Federation); and, possibly, all or parts of an as-yet-unidentified residential habilitation center or centers (RHCs).

The report is due from the Office of Financial Management. Over the past few months, consultants writing the report have met with Federation members to hear why institutions should not be closed. But some of the possible recommendations leaked out to the Seattle Times.

Meanwhile, Federation members used last weekend's convention to mobilize against current and future cuts, closures and consolidations.

Groups of members and delegates held a number of caucuses to continue the "boots on the ground" strategy of fighting the cuts. Those caucuses included: The member steering committee watchdogging the plan to start two pilot privatization projects in DSHS Child Welfare Services; juvenile rehabilitation; residential habilitation centers; and DSHS Community Services Division and call centers.

Delegates also unanimously passed a resolution to use "any and all remedies" to stop the closure of Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women and other state institution.

Members of Local 573 at Lakeland Village, an RHC in Medical Lake, announced plans for a major job action Oct. 19 in Spokane.

With all this going on, the governor herself heard first-hand the folly of the institutions closures and other cuts.

Seven delegates from targeted programs escorted the governor to the floor of the convention hall at a SeaTac hotel, then individually welcomed her with pleas for her to stop the bleeding.

Greeting the governor were: Julianne Moore from DD/RHCs; Ursula Petters from Child Welfare Services; Alice Rogers from Corrections; Greg Davis from Mental Health; Pam Carl from Higher Education; Gabe Hall from Juvenile Rehabilitation; and Scott Mallery from Natural Resources.

They politely welcomed the governor and asked Gregoire, "with all due" respect, to recognize the harm of cuts, consolidation and contracting out.

WFSE/AFSCME President Carol Dotlich presented the governor with hundreds of letters from members and delegates respectfully pleading with her to find alternatives to an "all cuts" approach to filling another $1 billion deficit.

"Please find another way to preserve these vital, quality services for the public," Moore told the governor in her Oct. 3 welcome.

"Please join us in restoring these cuts before a tragedy occurs," Rogers said.

"The cuts are a recipe for disaster," Hall said.

Gregoire responded, "I get it," but added, "You'll have to tell me where to cut."

Delegates quickly shouted, "Administration!" and "WMS!"

She still praised WFSE/AFSCME members. Delegates sought her out to shake her hand at the end of the cordial exchange.

"I know I am proud to have you as my partners," she said.

Gregoire said the past legislative session was "ugly, ugly, ugly....It was the worst legislative session I'd ever seen."

"We're going to get through these tough times, but it isn't going to be easy," Gregoire added.

Read the Convention Daily here: FRI | SAT | SUN

CONVENTION NEWS: Henricksen elected WFSE VP

The Federation may be the only AFSCME council with an all-female slate of top officers.

Sue Henricksen, a DD case resource manager in Tacoma and president of Local 53, got convention delegates' nod as vice president.

She joins re-elected incumbents President Carol Dotlich (Local 793, Western State Hospital, Lakewood), Secretary Lee Novak (Local 1400, Community Corrections, Longview/Kelso) and Treasurer Rosemary Sterling (Local 1381, Whatcom Community College, Bellingham).

Henricksen prevailed in a two-way race with incumbent Vice President Bill Copland of Local 1253.

Dotlich won re-election as president in her race against John Frazier, UW Local 1488.

Novak won a run-off in the secretary race against Steve McGillis, Local 313. The other nominee, Shellie Savage (Local 443), finished third in the first round of balloting.

Sterling was the sole nominee for WFSE/AFSCME treasurer. She was declared re-elected by acclamation.

The four officers will serve until the next WFSE/AFSCME convention in 2011.

Call today on the public option!

If you haven't gotten the text message from us, please call 1-877-264-4226 today to tell our two U.S. Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, to support the public option in any final health reform bill.