April 29, 2010

VIDEO/Media: KING5 coverage of decision to close Maple Lane School is questioned; veto of closure requested



The governor is set to sign the supplemental budget, ESSB 6444, within days and Local 1926 members at Maple Lane School will take to Interstate 5 and the Capitol in an all-out fight to reverse the three-year phased closure of the juvenile rehabilitation facility in south Thurston County.
  • FRIDAY, April 30:  And on Friday, Federation members led by Local 1926 will march on the governor’s office. Come out to support our Maple Lane brothers and sisters. Meet at the west side of the Capitol Building (the side facing the Governor’s Mansion) at 11 a.m. Wear your AFSCME Green shirt. The short march inside to deliver letters, petitions and messages to reverse the closure will follow.
The budget item to phase out and close Maple Lane came at the last minute. A consultants report from last fall said closing Maple Lane or any JRA facility makes no sense because offender population is expected to rise.

CALL NOW!  Don’t forget. You can still call the Legislature’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and tell the governor to save Maple Lane School. The hotline is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. 


April 28, 2010

Governor partially vetos furlough bill to shield managers

Gov. Gregoire today signed into law the awful state employee furlough bill, ESSB 6503, but in doing so she vetoed a part of the bill that would have directed that $10 million of the cuts come from Washington Management Service and other management classes.
"A cut of this size, over such a small base, is too large to be practical," the governor said in her partial-veto message.
She said the $10 million requirement was unfair to management and would harm management recruitment and retention. 
 What this means is a bigger chunk of compensation savings now must come from front-line state workers, increasing the chances that mandatory furloughs may very well occur for the 20 percent of state employees who could be targeted.

A copy of the governor's message on ESSB 6503 is attached.

April 27, 2010

Bargaining Updates

One team has started face-to-face bargaining with management, while all others are in various stages of preparations.
  • CWU, EWU, TESC, WWU: It’s now official. The former four-year members of the higher ed coalition will now bargain separately: Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, The Evergreen State College and Western Washington University. Watch for dates when they’re set.
  • Washington State University. The WSU Bargaining Team began bargaining April 14 in Pullman and heads back to the table Thursday, April 29. The first session was taken up with an agreement on ground rules and other logistical issues. WSU said it was “not adverse to saving money for both sides.” Both sides set a goal of completing bargaining by Sept. 1. The WSU team also has bargaining dates set for May 11, 12, 19, 25 and 26, and June 3, 4, 7, 8, 14 and 15.
  • General Government. The General Government Bargaining Team met April 20 to review supplemental proposals submitted by members. Elections for supplemental teams wrap up April 30. The team has one more pre-bargaining meeting May 11, followed by the start of face-to-face negotiations May 19 and 20 at the Thurston County Fairgrounds in Lacey.
  • University of Washington. The UW Bargaining Team met for the first time April 21 to map strategy and go over bargaining proposals.
  • Community College Coalition. The CCC Bargaining Team of 12 Community Colleges meets for two days of pre-bargaining preparation May 3 and 4. 
  • Health Care Coalition. The Federation-led coalition of all unions is preparing for the as-yet-unscheduled start of negotiations on the health care funding article that goes in all contracts. Watch for details—this is the article that determines your share of premium costs.

Worker Memorial Day events set

Western State Hospital Local 793 in Lakewood and three other sites will host Worker Memorial Day events tomorrow, Wednesday, April 28. This is the day set aside to remember workers killed or injured on the job and re-commit to the fight for safe workplaces.
  • WESTERN STATE HOSPITAL—The Local 793 event will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m., near the flagpole just inside the main entrance off Steilacoom Boulevard in Lakewood.
  • BELLINGHAM -- The Northwest Washington Central Labor Council will host its annual Worker Memorial Day commemoration at noon at the Worker Memorial Monument on the Bellingham library lawn. 
  • EVERETT -- The Snohomish County Labor Council will host its Worker Memorial Day commemoration on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Worker Safety Memorial at the Snohomish County Courthouse on the west side of the Mission Building on Wetmore near Pacific. 
  • OLYMPIA/TUMWATER -- The State Department of Labor and Industries will host its annual Worker Memorial Day ceremony Wednesday at 2 p.m. at L&I's Tumwater headquarters auditorium, 7273 Linderson Way S.W. Family members of Washington workers who died last year as a result of workplace injury or illness are invited. The centerpiece of the ceremony is a reading of the names of the fallen workers, accompanied by bell ringing.

Governor set to sign furlough bill today; administration confused

Gov. Chris Gregoire this afternoon (April 27) is set to sign the furlough bill (ESSB 6503) into law. We won’t be there. Expect bargaining on this issue.

The bill directs agencies to cut a total of $45 million in compensation costs, with $10 million coming from Washington Management Service and management-type jobs. Agencies can draw up their own plans using a number of options. If they don’t, the bill mandates 10 furlough/temporary layoff days between July 12 and June 30, 2011. Most state employees are exempt because they are in a public safety, health-related or other such position. Those making $30,000 or less can use leave time if they’re in a furlough-eligible class. In the end, only about 20 percent of state employees may even be eligible for furloughs.

And now we learn that where agencies do come up with an alternate plan to avoid mandatory furloughs, the governor wants all such agencies to close up the shop on the same days—to avoid public confusion.

But clearly, the administration itself is confused.

This from today’s The Olympian:
“But (Budget Director Marty) Brown also acknowledged Monday that agencies and the administration have more questions than answers about how to make the furloughs work. ‘It’s lots more complicated than it would appear,’ Brown said….”
The governor’s team is realizing the furlough bill may end up being a costly way for the administration and legislators to say, “Let’s screw state employees even more.”

Here’s an excerpt from the rest of today’s story in The Olympian:
“Democratic Rep. Brendan Williams of Olympia said he thinks there is a risk the bill won’t save what it is designed to.

“’You look at the example of Oregon and they found this thing has created more problems and costs than were anticipated,’ Williams said Monday. ‘In some cases people have had to work overtime and bill overtime to make up for lost hours. It becomes an administrative nightmare because agencies are designed to be functional.’

“Williams said agencies are designed to provide services but the furloughs raise a question whether the state will stop doing laundry at veterans’ homes or perhaps will skip other work such as processing unemployment claims at the Employment Security Department.

“The Governor’s Office is aware of Oregon’s experience and concerned by it, Brown said. But he said the savings must be achieved, because Washington lawmakers reduced allocations to agencies.

“’We are trying to get over the next couple weeks to see what it would take to make it work,’ Brown said. ‘If we shut this down, what are the ramifications? Does it mean the next day people have to work 10 hours? … We’re trying to be as thoughtful as we can … but it’s bumpy.’

“For instance, exempted activities are spelled out in the bill. But Brown said an exemption that protects academic or classroom activities in a community college leaves unclear how much support service must be provided to allow classes to go on.”

New revelations raise public outrage over Pine Lodge closure

KREM-TV and the Spokane Spokesman-Review have turned up damning information about why Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women was offered up on the altar of budget cuts in the final hours of the legislative session.

KREM uncovered an internal memo from the Department of Corrections saying Pine Lodge in Medical Lake outside Spokane will close – just so the state can open another prison in Western Washington.

KREM reported that DOC “said the new prison (in Western Washington) will be more energy efficient and will cost less to operate. The e-mail also said it’s too early in the process to know what the final cost will be. The new prison will not be just for women.”

As with furloughs (see next story here), the Pine Lodge closure may end up costing more—which is what members, Medical Lake city officials and other allies have been saying for more than a year.

Also damning is the Spokane Spokesman-Review’s report catching the House budget chair in a state of confusion over why Pine Lodge had to close.

The paper quoted House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Kelli Linville as saying Pine Lodge had to close because of the consultants’ report issued last fall. “Budget negotiators ‘looked closely at a report done last year…and tried to minimize politics,’” Linville told the paper.

The only problem? Linville is 100 percent wrong.
“That report, however, recommends leaving Pine Lodge open to have a corrections center for women inmates in Eastern Washington,” the Spokesman-Review reports.
“Asked about the difference, Linville replied: ‘We used the report as a basis. We were trying to use real information first, and then we negotiated the budget.’” 
Whether these revelations stop the Close Pine Lodge train, you shouldn’t stop letting the governor know.

CALL NOW!  1-800-562-6000 and tell the governor sacrificing Pine Lodge in Eastern Washington to benefit Western Washington is a scandal and flies in the face of the facts.

As Governor set sign budget, Maple Lane members push back to save facility

The governor is set to sign the supplemental budget, ESSB 6444, within days and Local 1926 members at Maple Lane School will take to Interstate 5 and the Capitol in an all-out fight to reverse the three-year phased closure of the juvenile rehabilitation facility in south Thurston County.
  • WEDNESDAY, April 28:  The “Save Maple Lane School Sign Waving” will be 1-6 p.m., tomorrow, Wednesday, April 28, at Exit 88 off I-5 (near the AM/PM Mini-Mart). Federation members are invited to show up in solidarity.
  • FRIDAY, April 30:  And on Friday, Federation members led by Local 1926 will march on the governor’s office. Come out to support our Maple Lane brothers and sisters. Meet at the west side of the Capitol Building (the side facing the Governor’s Mansion) at 11 a.m. Wear your AFSCME Green shirt. The short march inside to deliver letters, petitions and messages to reverse the closure will follow.
The budget item to phase out and close Maple Lane came at the last minute. A consultants report from last fall said closing Maple Lane or any JRA facility makes no sense because offender population is expected to rise.

CALL NOW!  Don’t forget. You can still call the Legislature’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and tell the governor to save Maple Lane School. The hotline is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.

April 19, 2010

"Tired of being under constant attack," WFSE/AFSCME delegates deny endorsements for all but one Senator, all but 18 House members

Federation delegates elected by their locals to the union’s biennial Endorsements Conference Saturday (April 17) sent a message to incumbent legislators that they may need to look elsewhere for support in 2010.

The delegates, meeting in Seattle, evaluated the performance of state senators and representatives and concluded most of them have waged a systematic campaign to dismantle human services and inflict extraordinary and unnecessary sacrifices on state employees.

Only one incumbent state senator – Sen. Pam Roach, R-31st Dist. – and 18 House incumbents received the seal of approval from the Endorsements Conference. Rep. Sharon Nelson, D-34th Dist., received the endorsement in the race for the open 34th District Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Joe McDermott.

In federal races, the delegates endorsed state Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-49th Dist., for the open U.S. 3rd District Congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Brian Baird.

They also backed Democrat and former Microsoft executive Suzan DelBene, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert in the 8th Congressional District.

And incumbent U.S. Sen. Patty Murray once again won the unanimous approval for her re-election bid.

No candidates in the three state Supreme Court seats up for election received endorsements. The screening process will continue and endorsements may be made later.

The Endorsements Conference also weighed in on four statewide ballot issues, voting to oppose Tim Eyman’s I-1053 to reinstate supermajority requirements for votes on revenue. They also opposed I-1082 to privatize the state workers’ compensation program and the expected initiative to privatize state liquor stores.

Delegates endorsed the Williams Gates Sr.-backed Initiative 1077 to raise $1 billion with a tax on “adjusted gross income” for couples earning more than $400,000 a year and individuals earning more than $200,000.

But it was the discussion of the legislative races that generated the most discussion and anger.

“We’re tired of being under constant attack,” said Dennis Eagle, the Federation’s director of legislative and political action.

The delegates endorsed House incumbents they concluded had gone the extra mile to delay and mitigate the furlough bill, fight for the $65 million needed to keep out-of-pocket health costs level and support vital institutions and safety net programs.

“Our lunchbox depends on decisions made by elected officials,” Eagle said.

And with 25 percent of the state budget wiped out by the global economic crisis, that lunchbox is much lighter. State employees had already given up $1 billion in wages, benefits, pension funding and layoffs before the 2010 session.

So delegates weren’t interested in endorsing incumbents who pooh-poohed state employee concerns about saving the safety net or who seemed to relish finding new ways to make state employees sacrifice.

The Endorsements Conference delegates blamed state senators, and particularly the majority Democrats, for waging an attack on human services, including supporting privatizing or shuttering Child Welfare Services, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility services, juvenile rehabilitation, residential habilitation services and big chunks of Corrections, like Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women.

“Virtually every member of the Senate is responsible,” Eagle said.

Those incumbents and other candidates aren’t totally denied an endorsement. But without the blessing of the Endorsements Conference, they now face a grueling run of local interviews where they will face tough questioning from members. The unendorsed also face an uphill battle to win the backing of the Washington State Labor Council’s COPE Endorsements Conference May 15. The Federation is the largest WSLC-affiliate, so it brings clout to support or deny endorsements.

Here is the list of candidates endorsed by the WFSE/AFSCME Endorsements Conference April 17 (*indicates incumbent):


U.S. SENATE

Patty Murray, D*

U.S. CONGRESS

Congressional District 1 – Jay Inslee,D*
CD 2 – Rick Larsen, D*
CD 3 – Craig Pridemore, D
CD 6 – Norm Dicks, D*
CD 7 – Jim McDermott, D*
CD 8 – Suzan DelBene, D
CD 9 – Adam Smith, D*


STATE LEGISLATURE

STATE SENATE

Dist. 31 – Pam Roach, R*
Dist. 34 – Sharon Nelson, D

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Dist. 2 (Pos. 2) – Tom Campbell, R*
Dist. 3 (Pos. 2) – Timm Ormsby, D*
Dist. 11 (Pos. 2) – Bob Hasegawa, D*
Dist. 21 (Pos. 1) – Mary Helen Roberts, D*
Dist. 22 (Pos. 2) – Sam Hunt, D*
Dist. 23 (Pos. 1) – Sherry Appleton, D*
Dist. 28 (Pos. 2) – Tami Green, D*
Dist. 29 (Pos. 1) – Steve Conway, D*
Dist. 30 (Pos. 1) – Mark Miloscia, D*
Dist. 30 (Pos. 2) – Skip Priest, R*
Dist. 32 (Pos. 1) – Maralyn Chase, D*
Dist. 33 (Pos. 2) – Dave Upthegrove, D*
Dist. 38 (Pos. 2) – Mike Sells, D*
Dist. 44 (Pos. 1) – Hans Dunshee, D*
Dist. 46 (Pos. 1) – Scott White, D*
Dist. 47 (Pos. 1) – Geoff Simpson, D*
Dist. 47 (Pos. 2) – Pat Sullivan, D*
Dist. 49 (Pos. 2) – Jim Moeller, D*

STATEWIDE INITIATIVES

I-1053 (Tim Eyman/revenue supermajorities): OPPOSE
I-1077 (Tax on high adjusted gross incomes): SUPPORT
I-1082 (Privatizing workers’ comp.): OPPOSE
I-???? (Privatizing state liquor stores): OPPOSE

April 18, 2010

Spokane Worker Memorial Ceremony

The Spokane Regional Labor Council will observe its annual Workers Memorial Ceremony on SATURDAY, APRIL 17 at 11 a.m. at Spokane City Mission Park, 1300 E. Mission, along the centennial trail.

Guest speakers include WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link and L&I Director Judy Schurke. The ceremony will honor not only Washington's fallen workers, but also those in Idaho who lost their lives at work in the past year. Plus, participants will carry on the tradition of honoring the fallen warriors who died in 2009 “at work” serving our country. The event will be followed by a community picnic in the park. For more information, call 509-327-7637.

RTC unanimously ratify contract

Members at Renton Technical College today ratified their new three-year collective bargaining agreement on a vote of 29-0. 

RTC negotiates under a different collective bargainging law with different time frames than all other WFSE/AFSCME members. So they're wrapping their contract just as most others are just starting.

The RTC tentative agreement comes with no take-aways and new language on personal convenience leave, college closure, union-management, new employee orientation, layoff and recall, reclassification, discipline, safety, performance evaluations, training and in-service training. Seniority definitions and rights were retained. And the contract document has been restructured to make it easier to use.

UPDATE 1:15 A.M. 4/13/10: The House adjourned its special session at 1:10 a.m. Tuesday, followed by the Senate at 1:12 a.m. 4/12/10 10:30 p.m.

This is a special update of the Federation Hotline at about 10:30 Monday night.

SENATE, HOUSE PASS BUDGET, REVENUE PACKAGE ON WAY TO ADJOURNMENT

    The end came quickly and it came bittersweet.

    The Senate followed the House Monday night by passing the compromise supplemental budget that cuts another 1,534 state jobs and closes Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women and Maple Lane School, but funds state employee health care, keeps residential habilitation centers open – for now – and restores funding for the DSHS Health and Rehabilitative Services Administration (HRSA).

    The Senate vote on the budget, ESSB 6444, was 25-21 with 3 excused. The House earlier Monday night passed it 54-43 with 1 excused.

    The Senate followed the House vote this past weekend and passed the bill raising targeted revenue and closing loopholes. The Senate vote on 2ESSB 6143 was 25-21 with 3 excused.

In the House, an amendment by Rep. Brendan Williams of the 22nd District to reverse the June 2013 closure of Maple Lane School in Grand Mound failed on a vote of 45 yes to 52 no.

    Another amendment from Rep. Pat Sullivan of the 47th District restored most of the funding needed to maintain the DSHS Health and Rehabilitative Services Administration (HRSA). That to head off the 160 layoffs announced by DSHS just this past Thursday. The Sullivan amendment passed on a voice vote. It adds about $2.3 million to HRSA and directs DSHS to maintain employment levels while looking at possible efficiencies.

    To recap, here are other key points to the compromise supplemental budget, ESSB 6444:

HEALTH INSURANCE

    The compromise budget includes the $64.9 million it should take to keep your out-of-pocket costs level through June 2011.

PINE LODGE CORRECTIONS CENTER FOR WOMEN

    The compromise budget calls for closure of Pine Lodge by June 2011. This would generate savings of only $7.2 million.

JUVENILE REHABILITATION

    Maple Lane School in Grand Mound would be phased out by June 30, 2013. Other downsizing but no closures would take place at the other JRA institutions to cut some 35 positions.

RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION CENTERS

    No RHCs would close (remember, Frances Haddon Morgan Center was targeted). But….the budget directs the governor’s budget office to hire a consultant “to determine the optimum residential setting for residential habilitation center clients, including the option to remain in a residential habilitation center.” The report is due Dec. 1. The budget also reduces institutional funding to include cottage consolidations, changing maintenance schedules, reducing adult training programs and reductions in services such as dental care.

FURLOUGHS ASSUMED

    The compromise budget assumes savings from the directive to reduce compensation costs, which could include 10 furlough days in non-exempt agencies if the agencies don’t come up with an alternative.

HIGHER EDUCATION

    Funding is cut 6 percent, reflecting an additional 475 position cuts in Higher Education: UW – 100.8; WSU – 65; EWU – 18.1; CWU – 18.6; TESC – 8.9; WWU – 18.4; Community and Technical Colleges – 245.6.


FINALLY….

    At the end of the 2009 session, we said it could’ve been worse, but it could’ve been better. The same can be said this year. But if not for you and your full-court press throughout the session, it would be much worse. You’d have 16 mandatory furlough days, instead of 10 maybe for about a quarter of the state employee workforce. Frances Haddon Morgan Center would be closing—it’s not. You’d be seeing a tripling of health care costs; that should not happen with the infusion of funding the Legislature put into the final budget. You forced legislators to raise revenue and close tax loopholes; they weren’t talking about that in January.

    But, the bottom line is more jobs will be lost, important programs will be cut or cutback, not because you did anything wrong but because of the global economic meltdown. Throughout it all, you showed a kind of courage that most lawmakers voting on your destiny lack.

    You’re always held accountable as public employees. Now it’s time for you to hold the Legislature accountable. The Federation’s biennial endorsements conference is this Saturday.

April 13, 2010

Compromise Budget unveiled (4/12/10)

The House-Senate compromise budget (ESSB 6444) was unveiled this morning on the second-to-last day of the special session. Hearings and floor action will take place today, though it’s not clear lawmakers can wrap up work before Tuesday.
Here are key points. Stay tuned here for updates throughout the day.

HEALTH INSURANCE

The compromise budget includes the $64.9 million it should take to keep your out-of-pocket costs level through June 2011.

PINE LODGE CORRECTIONS CENTER FOR WOMEN

The compromise budget calls for closure of Pine Lodge by June 2011. This would generate savings of only $7.2 million.

JUVENILE REHABILITATION

Maple Lane School in Grand Mound would be phased out by June 30, 2013. Other downsizing but no closures would take place at the other JRA institutions to cut some 35 positions.

RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION CENTERS

No RHCs would close (remember, Frances Haddon Morgan Center was targeted). But….the budget directs the governor’s budget office to hire a consultant “to determine the optimum residential setting for residential habilitation center clients, including the option to remain in a residential habilitation center.” The report is due Dec. 1. The budget also reduces institutional funding to include cottage consolidations, changing maintenance schedules, reducing adult training programs and reductions in services such as dental care.

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

Some $16.8 million is added to the DSHS Medial Assistance program, but it's unclear if this goes toward the Health and Rehabilitation Services Administration (HRSA) last-minute budget crisis DSHS announced just last Thursday. Our HRSA members are at the Capitol today continuing to fight for the additional $5 million needed to save the program and some 160 jobs.

MENTAL HEALTH

The budget calls for efficiencies to cover the 8 percent hike in workers’ compensation fees that took place at the psychiatric hospitals, along with the elimination of 24.5 administrative and 7 direct-care staff. It’s unclear if the Program for Adaptive Living Skills (PALS) at Western State Hospital is preserved.

PARKS AND RECREATION

The budget calls for hiring of temporary park rangers instead of full-time rangers during the high-use season through June 2011. Interpretive staff is reduced in parks without formal interpretive centers and 1.5 percent is cut for maintenance and operations staff.

FURLOUGHS ASSUMED

The compromise budget assumes savings from the directive to reduce compensation costs, which could include 10 furlough days in non-exempt agencies if the agencies don’t come up with an alternative.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Funding is cut 6 percent, reflecting an additional 475 position cuts in Higher Education: UW – 100.8; WSU – 65; EWU – 18.1; CWU – 18.6; TESC – 8.9; WWU – 18.4; Community and Technical Colleges – 245.6.

KEEP GETTING YOUR CALLS IN; WATCH FOR UPDATES

April 9, 2010

$21 million budget snafu at DSHS HRSA may result in 160 layoff notices

Employees at DSHS HRSA in Olympia were informed Thursday (4/8/10) of layoffs numbering 160.

A budget snafu in 2009, and a failure of the legislature to restore the funding, could result in a significant loss of future revenue.

At the call center at HRSA headquarters in Olympia, 70 employees handle thousands of calls each month from Medicaid clients and providers who are seeking Medicaid authorization.  When authorization is made, federal matching funds kick in.  This is a revenue generating operation.

In February, these 70 employees received 63,859 incoming calls from clients and providers; and 1028 calls for provider enrollment. The layoff threat would remove 30 employees from the call center leaving only 40 employees to handle the same number of calls. When the state does not make the authorizations and calls go unanswered, the state is actually losing considerable federal match money.




So far in the session funding has not been restored.  When the union was informed on Thursday that the Legislature was balking at full restoration, the union immediately demanded a meeting with HRSA management, and members took their story to the public with a march to the Capitol and a request to see the Governor.

On the steps of the HRSA building on Cherry Street in Olympia, WFSE Executive Direct Greg Devereux informed the affected employees, “We’re not going to wait.  We’re going to do everything we can now to get the funding restored.”

WFSE HRSA members will be working all weekend to demonstrate to legislators the vital revenue generating aspects of their jobs.


Job actions continue tomorrow

4/9/10 5 p.m. BULLETIN

    Job actions took place across the state today including Spokane, Yakima, Lakewood and the march by Health and Recovery Administration (HRSA) members in Olympia.

HRSA members will hold another rally tomorrow, Saturday, April 10, 1:30 p.m., at the Sundial between the O’Brien and Cherberg buildings south of the Capitol Building in Olympia.

    If you can make it, wear your AFSCME Green shirt.

    They are facing 160 layoffs just announced yesterday. We’re still getting to the bottom of how and why DSHS is doing this. So stay tuned.  READ UPDATE HERE.


Spokane Southwest CSO
















Spokane North CSO












Western State Hospital


















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April 6, 2010

Don't let legislators throw our health care under the bus!


Don’t let legislators do to you on health care what they did to you on furloughs!
The Legislature is wrapping up its special session this week. In their final rush to get home so they can raise money for their campaigns, let’s make sure they do the right thing on health care for you and your family.
You’ve already sacrificed.
• $650 million in wage takeaways (2009)
• $200 million in healthcare cuts (1/1/10)
• $300 million in pension contribution diversions (2009)
• Thousands of state worker layoffs (2009-10)
Sacrificing health care is not an option!
What’s at stake on health care:
  • There’s a shortfall in the health insurance fund. It wasn’t caused by you. It was caused when the Legislature diverted some $200 million out of it in 2008.
  • If nothing is done, your out-of-pocket costs would skyrocket. Examples: Deductibles would go up $3,000 a person, on top of increased office-visit co-pays and other co-pays.
The solution: $65 million
  • $65 million is needed to fix the mess caused by the Legislature in 2008.
  • That would keep out-of-pocket costs level through this budget period, until mid-2011.
  • The House supports that idea. The Senate has not agreed yet.
We can’t let the politicians do nothing.
Doing nothing is not an option.
Doing nothing is an attack on your family’s health care!
CALL TO ACTION:
  • Tell legislators to fund state worker health care with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!
  • Visit legislators.
  • Or call 1-800-562-6000.
RESOURCES:

April 5, 2010

Time to channel your furlough anger to make final push for health care funding

It’s time to channel the anger over what lawmakers did to you by passing the furlough bill.

Even though your hard work mitigated ESSB 6503 tremendously, the savings generated – about $45 million – will be cancelled out by overtime and other costs.

Just look at Oregon.

There, lawmakers passed a furlough bill for the 2009-2011 budget to save $40.8 million. But in just one Oregon agency –Human Services – overtime costs for the last three months of 2009 ended up costing $3.4 million. You can do the math and figure out the Oregon furloughs will have symbolic value only and won’t do a damn thing to close any budget gaps.

The same could happen here.

The word from the Senate is senators will concur with the changes made to the furlough bill on April 2 and send it to the governor’s desk. 

That shouldn’t stop you from calling the Legislature’s hotline at 1-800-562-6000 to urge your senator to vote no on the amended furlough bill and urge the governor not to sign ESSB 6503 if it gets to her desk.
Remember, you have gone to the mat to stop the furlough bill and the way it turned out is a bill that is still bad but not as bad as it originally was.

And as the press is reporting, we have put the state on notice we may sue if furloughs are ever imposed because many state workers would then be treated differently than others in the same job classifications.

Note to state: Remember the 100s of millions of dollars this union won for pay equity (comparable worth) and to correct disparities between General Government and Higher Education pay (the Shroll lawsuit), among others. We are very good at righting wrongs in court.
But now it’s time to channel your anger in the short-term and push health care funding through.

WHERE WE STAND ON HEALTH CARE
 

The House wants $65 million to keep a lid on health costs for the rest of this biennium, through June 30, 2011. The Senate needs to go along. 

So this week, fight like hell so they don’t do to you on health care what they did to you on the furlough bill. 

We know you’ve called and e-mailed and rallied and visited lawmakers. But the marathon session is almost done—we need to keep up the pace through to the finish line.

  • Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums! Instead, close tax loopholes on big out-of-state banks in the final state budget (ESSB 6444) so we can keep health care funded, stable and affordable for our families.

Important schedule change: Endorsements Conference moved to April 17

Because the special session of the Legislature will slop into next weekend and even early next week (they’re on rolling recess this week until Friday), the Federation Endorsements Conference originally scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed a week, until Saturday, April 17.

The Endorsements Conference will now be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 17, in the Duwamish Training Center, South Seattle Community College Georgetown Campus, 6737 Corson Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98108. THE LOCATION IS THE SAME, ONLY THE DATE HAS CHANGED.
  • Local presidents should contact their delegates to tell them of the schedule change. We’re calling presidents and board members as well.
  • Delegates needing to change travel arrangements should call Pam Herrick at the Federation, 1-800-562-6002.

House OK's furlough bill, 50-38; Personal holiday amendment defeated

The House late Friday afternoon OK’d the bad state employee furlough bill with just a bare one vote majority, 50-38.

As bad as it is, ESSB 6503 has been greatly mitigated from the original bill. The bill as it stands requires agencies and higher education institutions to come up with a plan to reduce state employee compensation costs. Those that don’t will be forced to inflict 10 furlough or temporary layoff dates from July 12, 2010, to June 10, 2011. Only about 26 percent of state employees would be covered.

Two noteworthy amendments – one good and one bad – were defeated.
  • Rep. Brendan Williams’ good amendment to cut legislators’ per diem payments equal to any pay cuts to state employees failed 57-31. 
  • Rep. Charles Ross’s bad amendment to take away state employees’ personal holiday also failed 52-36.
    In further mitigation, the House amended the bill back to require bargaining over furloughs between the governor and each exclusive bargaining representative, not a single coalition of all unions. 

    It’s worth noting that even though it passed, ESSB 6503 has been mitigated thanks to your constant pressure since January. It originally called for 16 mandatory furlough days, with far fewer exemptions. Now it requires only 10 and only if agencies or institutions don’t come up with alternative plans. 

    And $10 million of the $50 million in compensation savings must come from management staff not covered by civil service.

    “If this bill were about shared sacrifices, I’d be standing up saying let’s vote for it…,” Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-47th Dist., said during debate on ESSB 6503.

    “Instead we pile onto our own state employees a tax increase in effect that’s a mile deep and a half-inch wide. It’s not fair, it’s not shared sacrifice. It’s not a good way to run the state of Washington.”

    With that, the House adjourned essentially until later next week when it’s hoped all the pieces are in place for a final budget and revenue package.