June 25, 2010

WFSE/AFSCME files lawsuit to block furloughs; charges violation of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution, among others

The Washington Federation of State Employees this morning (June 25) filed a lawsuit to block the state furloughs set to start July 12.

The motion for a preliminary injunction asks the Thurston County Superior Court to put the brakes on the 10 furlough days until a number of legal, constitutional and administrative issues can be sorted out.

The lawsuit alleges, in part, that the furlough plan violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and the state constitution’s guarantee of freedom from contract impairment. 

The union also asks the court to freeze the furloughs so the grievance the union filed Tuesday and unfair labor practice complaint filed yesterday can be resolved. If the furloughs go forward before that happens, more damage could be done.

A hearing on the motion is expected July 2. 

Bargaining with 23 agencies that chose to impose the full 10 furlough days is set for July 6 and 7. Bargaining with agencies that chose alternative plans hasn’t been set. 

Meanwhile, members across the state this week are signing “Furloughs Hurt” petitions to the governor. You can fill out the petition online. 

June 24, 2010

Governor's proposes "transforming" state budget with more contracting out, downsizing; hints at cuts to health care, pensions, and workers' comp

Gov. Chris Gregoire today unveiled her grand plan to transform the state budget in the face of another $3 billion deficit.

Don’t get us wrong. We have to think outside the box to save funding for vital state programs.

But the governor proposes dusting off former Gov. Gary Locke’s “Priorities of Government” structure. But she set the agenda with a 20-page report that makes the case for more privatization of state services, closures of institutions and health insurance cuts—without any mention of your bargaining rights under the law or the $1 billion you’ve already sacrificed in pay cuts, health cuts, pension cuts and job cuts.

And she’s put together a select committee to oversee this “Son of POG” scheme. There are three labor reps, but the Federation was not invited to participate. There are a few other labor-friendly members, but it has quite a few pro-business and anti-state employee members, including a couple of anti-state employee think tankers and Sen. Joseph Zarelli.

It is a sad day when an effort to "transform" the budget appears to be nothing more than cover for cuts that make no fiscal or common sense.

Hearings will be held around the state. The first and so far only announced date is July 19 in Tacoma.

BULLETIN: WFSE/AFSCME charges state with unfair labor practice (ULP) over furloughs

The Federation late today (June 24) filed an unfair labor practice complaint charging the state with a number of law and bargaining violations over the plans to furlough state employees on 10 days starting July 12.

The complaint charges the state with dragging its feet on bargaining over the issue, then trying to jam the union with hasty negotiations.

“Instead, the state first drug its feet regarding bargaining, and then insisted bargaining had to take place on short notice and without the WFSE having been provided any meaningful or useful information regarding which employees were considered exempt,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint charges the state with a direct attempt to “discredit and undermine” the Federation by negotiating with other unions but not the Federation. Some agencies also contacted employees directly about furloughs, which is illegal “direct dealing” that violates collective bargaining obligations.

Finally, the union alleges the state, in effect, is using the furlough days as a ploy to take work away from bargaining unit employees and give it to non-bargaining unit workers. That is called illegal “skimming” of work.

“The totality of the state’s actions…constitutes a refusal to bargain and an interference with employee rights guaranteed by” law, the complaint says.

The unfair labor practice complaint was filed with the Public Employment Relations Commission.

The filing of the unfair labor practice complaint comes two days after the Federation filed a grievance against the furloughs on other grounds.

Meanwhile, members across the state this week are signing “Furloughs Hurt” petitions to the governor. You can fill out the petition online here.

June 22, 2010

BULLETIN: WFSE/AFSCME files grievance over furloughs

The Federation today (June 22) filed a grievance against the state to put the brakes on furloughs.

The union in effect charges the state with actually imposing “extra” furlough days because the 10 furlough days would supposedly net more savings than mandated in the furlough law. With no loss of funding or revenue shortfall, the state can’t impose all of the furlough days and violates the contract, the grievance says. 

The grievance signed by Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux also seeks to ensure that employees exempted by the furlough law are not forced to take furloughs. The union alleges the state has targeted some exempt employees for the furloughs.

The first of 10 mandatory furlough days is set for July 12.
The grievance responds to the state’s June 2 memo saying 23 agencies would not propose alternatives and would take the 10 furlough days in the law. Those agencies are:

Agriculture; Arts Commission; Commerce; Corrections; Criminal Justice Training Commission; Social and Health Services; Early Learning; Ecology; Employment Security; Fish and Wildlife; General Administration; Health; Health Care Authority; Human Rights Commission; Information Services; Labor and Industries; Licensing; Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises; Recreation and Conservation Office; Services for the Blind; Utilities and Transportation Commission; Veterans Affairs; and Workforce Training and Education Board.
The grievance alleges the state violated the General Government contract article on Layoff and Recall, specifically Article 34.6 on temporary reduction of work hours or layoff.

The grievance was filed with the state Labor Relations Office. To expedite the process, both sides agreed that the grievance will move directly to LRO Director Diane Leigh or her designee.

Check here for further updates as this grievance moves and other actions the union may take this week.

Meanwhile, members across the state this week are signing “Furloughs Hurt” petitions to the governor. You can fill out the petition online here.

That’s it for now.

June 21, 2010

Cause of action exists on unfair labor practice (ULP) over agency-specific (supplemental) bargaining; ball in state's court

It took just three days, but a state commission asked to referee the dispute over agency-specific bargaining ruled Friday that a cause of action exists against the state.

The Public Employment Relations Commission has given the state 21 days to answer the allegations in the unfair labor practice complaint filed June 15 by the Washington Federation of State Employees.

The PERC ruling means the Federation’s unfair labor practice complaint has quickly cleared its first hurdle.

The union alleges the state has violated the law by not agreeing to negotiations on agency-specific issues away from the main General Government bargaining table. When those issues are rolled into the main negotiations, they sometimes get pushed aside as the clock runs out toward the Oct. 1 deadline the state relies on.

Keep posted for further hotline updates this week.

June 16, 2010

State violated law by refusing to bargain agency-specific issues, union says; asks state commission to referee - quickly

The union today told state negotiators to their face that the state had broken the law by refusing to negotiate on agency-specific issues important to large segments of Federation members.

PICTURED RIGHT: General Government Bargaining Team delegation gather at PERC June 15 to file the unfair labor practice complaint over the state's refusal to full bargaining on agency-specific (supplemental) issues. From left: Ken Blair, Craig Gibelyou, Carol Dotlich, Marci Douglas-Bumgarner, Sue Henricksen, Steve Segall, Gabe Hall and Don Hall.

Hours later, the union formally asked a state commission to referee the dispute quickly and order the state to negotiate on agency-specific (“supplemental”) issues away from the main General Government Bargaining Team table.

Federation President Carol Dotlich and a delegation from the General Government team filed the formal unfair labor practice complaint shortly after noon with the Public Employment Relations Commission in Olympia.

The filing of the formal unfair labor practice complaint came the same day the union presented its initial contract proposal to the state (see below).

But before the union explained that initial proposal, Federation Chief Negotiator Cecil Tibbetts told state negotiators it was “regrettable” the state had refused to full negotiations on agency-specific issues.

“We believe that (agency-specific bargaining) is critical,” Tibbetts said. “We believe the state is violating the law.”

At issue is the provision in the 2002 collective bargaining law that allows agency-specific (what the law calls “supplemental”) bargaining.

The union is pushing hard on this issue. In previous bargaining cycles, agency-specific issues were bargained at the main General Government table. By not bargaining those issues at smaller, agency-specific tables, the state was able to do two things. They could run out the clock on issues affecting most members. Or issues affecting members in one agency got pushed aside as the clock ran out. (The law calls for negotiations to wrap up by Oct. 1.)

The union has spent most of this spring at the table and away from the table trying to persuade the state to agency-specific bargaining. Members in eight agencies or agency groups submitted agency-specific (supplemental) items. The union has eight agency-specific teams in place, ready to go with bargaining away from the main table.

Those teams are: Transportation, Parks, Corrections, Fish and Wildlife, Ecology, Agriculture, 24-Hour Institutions and Department of Social and Health Services Field Agencies.

The formal unfair labor practice complaint includes a chronology of the state’s back and forth with the union. One day they agreed to agency-specific negotiations in one area; on another, they wouldn’t.

The unfair labor practice complaint comes in the wake of the union’s conscientious attempt June 9 and 10 to agree to a process allowing agency-specific bargaining. But the state insisted that both sides had to agree on issues to send to an agency-specific table. The Federation objected to what amounted to “filtering” by management. Instead the union proposed that both sides should present agency-specific issues that would go to a smaller table. In the union’s proposal, any issue not agreed to at a smaller table could be bumped back to the main General Government table.

After that, the state refused to the Federation’s reasonable, collaborative process. The state would only agree to agency-specific bargaining for 24-Hour Institutions.

It adds up to “bad-faith bargaining,” the union said.

“The WFSE believes and therefore alleges that the employer’s refusal to engage in supplemental bargaining on agency-specific issues, away from the master table, effectively denies the WFSE any meaningful collective bargaining on agency-specific issues, especially with the Oct. 1, 2010 deadline the employer insists upon, but even without such a deadline, given the number, scope and extent of issues specific to the many state agencies represented by the WFSE…,” the union’s unfair labor practice complaint said.

“The state’s insistence on bargaining all (or all but one) agency-specific supplemental bargaining at one master table is, at worst, an intentional tactic to avoid bargaining mandatory subjects, or, at best, a tactic which the state is fully aware will result in the parties not being able to bargain these issues.”

The union asks the commission to expedite a hearing on its unfair labor practice complaint well before the clock is supposed to run out Oct. 1.

All-out assault on furloughs moves

There’s a lot we can’t tell you in writing about how the union is challenging the 10 furlough days being imposed by the state.

You know that the Federation has filed a demand to bargain.

Today (June 15) the Federation asked the state Labor Relations Office to bargain the issue July 6 and 7. That will allow the union time to get accurate information from the agencies that have announced they will furlough. For instance, DSHS submitted more than 400 pages of names, then provided a different list with no indication of differences between the two. Labor and Industries sent a list with 2,250 names, then told the union there were errors. But as of now, we have not received a corrected list. We expect the same snafus with the other 20 agencies that will implement furloughs. So we need the time to figure out who is targeted so we can adequately bargain the impacts. Furloughs would take money from a good chunk of the state workforce. The state needs to take accurate information seriously.

The union has asked for your personal intelligence from your agency as evidence in planned challenges. Continue to let us know what your agency is saying, especially any talk where your agency wanted to find alternatives to furloughs but was blocked by the governor’s budget office. The reams and reams of intelligence you’ve already provided have been priceless. Keep it coming. E-mail us at: info@wfse.org.

Most agencies, especially those under the governor’s control, have announced they will impose the 10 furlough days starting July 12. DSHS dropped a bombshell last Friday by releasing 400 pages with the names of DSHS employees targeted for the furloughs. They did not bargain to reduce or eliminate harmful impacts. This is unacceptable. If you believe your job class is exempt under the law -- that it’s a quote unquote “emergent” or “essential” position -- please get a copy of your position description form to your Federation Council Representative to forward to Federation Headquarters in Olympia.

Other agencies, most not under the governor’s control, have announced they will not do furloughs. Those include the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Department of Natural Resources.

Watch for other actions.

And stay tuned here. Many options are close to breaking. But for strategic reasons, we can’t discuss them publicly.

General Government bargaining team presents initial contract proposal

Last week, the state presented its initial contract proposal for the 2011-2013 collective bargaining agreement.

Today (June 15), the Federation presented its initial plan. It included changes to such articles as Workplace Behavior, Hours of Work, Overtime, Vacation Leave, Grievance Procedure, Seniority, Layoff and Recall and Classification. Many compensation issues, with “placeholders” for proposals yet to come, were also presented.

The rules in the contract don’t allow us to publicly discuss the details of proposals. But the team wants to stress that you very much are at the table in spirit. The hundreds of proposals you submitted last fall guided the union’s initial proposal. And now negotiations will be guided by results of the bargaining priorities survey that you got in the mail. They must be received at Federation Headquarters by June 21. Or take it online at www.wfse.org > Bargaining > General Government.

The team worked into the evening further evaluating management’s proposals. Questions on the union’s proposal are expected from management Wednesday.

Then both sides are scheduled to return to the table July 8 and 9.

Call 877-442-6801 - urge YES on Senate Jobs Bill (HR 4213).

KEEP CALLING ON FEDERAL JOBS BILL



Call your U.S. senators toll-free at 1-877-442-6801 and urge them to vote YES! on the Senate Jobs Bill (H.R. 4213). This bill will prevent more layoffs and public service cutbacks.

June 11, 2010

Without negotiation, DSHS to release the names of those targeted for furloughs at noon today

6/11/10 HOTLINE BULLETIN 
Without negotiating yet, the Department of Social and Health Services this morning dropped a bombshell and announced they will unilaterally post online the names of DSHS employees targeted for 10 furlough days starting July 12. 

Negotiations must take place and our goal as it has been all along is to reduce the number of employees affected—and persuade the governor’s budget office to stop blocking agencies who want to offer alternatives to furloughs. 

And of course we’re challenging the furloughs in many other arenas. When those developments take place soon, you will know. 

On the DSHS list, here are a couple of important things you need to know and do:
  1. Negotiations must take place. Any list of names will change. Please keep that in mind. It’s hard to be patient when invoking your rights.

  2. DSHS has not given any clear indication of which job classes are exempt from the furlough law and which are not.

  3. If you believe your job class is exempt under the law -- that it’s a quote unquote “emergent” or “essential” position -- please get a copy of your position description form to your Federation Council Representative to forward to Federation Headquarters in Olympia.
Stay tuned here for more updates.

###

June 9, 2010

Community College Bargaining Team Update 6/4/10

Negotiations begin.

The Community College Coalition bargaining team met on June 1 in Olympia to review and make final changes to initial contract proposals before opening negotiations with management on June 2 and 3.


On day-1 of negotiations the team presented our initial rounds of proposals.  Fewer changes are being proposed than in previous rounds of bargaining.  Our new language focuses on issues we received from member proposals, from team discussions on these proposals, and members' experiences to date in the administration of the 2009-2011 contract, specifically anti-bullying and mobbing language.

 On day-2, the team answered questions from management about our proposals.  The team provided examples in support of proposed new language and wrapped up negotiations in the morning.  The afternoon provided time to work on additional language in Article 35, Layoff and Recall - which sparked lots of debate. 

Tim Welch, WFSE Director of Public Affiairs met with the team to finalize the member survey on contract priorities.  
  • Our Bargaining Priorities Survey was mailed to members on June 4th. Members are encouraged to take the survey online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/wfse-ccc if at all possible.  Otherwise, please return the hard copy in the provided postage-paid envelope by the June 21 deadline.

One issue the Governor is right on: without federal medicaid funds, another 12,000 job cuts loom

We disagree with the governor on many things, but not on the need for a federal jobs bill with the Medicaid money Washington and other states need. 

Without the $480 million in federal Medicaid funds (called FMAP), another 12,000 state jobs would be cut on top of the roughly 6,000 already cut, the governor said in a letter to this state’s Congressional delegation. 

Without the federal money, the governor said she would likely call the Legislature back into special session to fill the budget gap—and cut jobs. 
“If the (FMAP Medicaid funding) extension is not realized, the state will not only be unable to provide medical services to thousands of families, but would likely see a loss of thousands of jobs as across-the-board cuts would be a likely response,” the governor said, as reported in today’s (June 8) The Olympian. 

That’s why we need you to call Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell and tell them to support a jobs bill that saves public jobs. Because deficits matter—but jobs matter more. 

The U.S. Senate is about to vote on a jobs bill that includes dollars for state governments to avoid layoffs and public service cuts. This money is needed more than ever. Cutting public jobs and services will endanger economic recovery. And it will make the national debt even worse. 

Call your U.S. senators toll-free at 1-877-442-6801 and urge them to vote YES! on the Senate Jobs Bill (H.R. 4213). This bill will prevent more layoffs and public service cutbacks. 

Ask for a response.   Call as soon as possible on your own phone.

Bargaining Updates:

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: 

The WSU team on June 4 declared impasse on a number of articles, including: compensation; benefits; grievance and arbitration; hours, schedule and overtime; job processes; and scope and interpretation of the contract. Impasse comes when both sides realize they’ve hit a brick wall. Impasse likely triggers the mediation provisions of the collective bargaining law, meaning the Public Employment Relations Commission may be asked to appoint a mediator to try to break the log jam. This is a serious, serious step and we need to stand with our WSU brothers and members as they fight for a fair contract. The WSU contract is a statewide contract covering members at the main campus in Pullman, but also extension centers in all of Western Washington as well as some other WSU facilities.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE COALITION:

The Community College Coalition Bargaining Team began bargaining with management June 2 to presented its initial contract proposal to management. Fewer changes are being proposed than in previous rounds of bargaining. The team’s new language focuses on issues in proposals submitted by members, team discussion on those issues, and members’ experience under the current, 2009-2011 contract. The team finished writing its bargaining priorities survey, which went in the mail last week. Members can also take it online.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY:


The CWU Bargaining Team met for the first time today (June 8) after being broken out of the old coalition. They began work on writing their initial proposal. They meet again June 21.

GENERAL GOVERNMENT:


The General Government Bargaining Team returns to the table tomorrow and Thursday (June 9 and 10). The team’s bargaining priority survey went in the mail to members last week. It, too, has an online version.

THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE:


The TESC Bargaining Team met as team last week and start bargaining with management June 29.

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY:


The WWU Bargaining Team meets June 14 to begin work on their contract proposal.

June 3, 2010

DSHS, 22 other agencies refuse to find alternatives, announce plans for 10 furlough days

The Department of Social and Health Services and 22 other agencies have thrown up their hands and refused to come up with alternatives to employee furloughs.

The Office of Financial Management today (June 2) in a letter to Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux said the 23 agencies will not submit a compensation reduction plan. That means the default option—10 furlough days from July 12, 2010, to June 10, 2011.

“It is not in the department’s best interest to submit a different compensation reduction plan to OFM,” DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus told employees in an e-mail today.

Both OFM and Dreyfus said bargaining will take place and only then will a list of exempt and non-exempt job classes be available.

In a sign of how far out in the stratosphere management is, they have stopped using the term “furloughs” because of the union’s “NO FURLOUGHS!” buttons. Instead, they call the furloughs “temporary layoffs.”

The Federation as you know has filed demands to bargain and is contemplating other action. We are following court proceedings in New York and California where AFSCME overturned furloughs. But we have to build a case on our state’s particular furlough plan because the New York and California furloughs were overturned on a different set of facts. Stay tuned.

So here are the 23 agencies with Federation-represented employees that will not submit alternatives and will implement 10 furlough days to affected job classes (pending of course bargaining and other possible actions):
Agriculture; Arts Commission; Commerce; Corrections; Criminal Justice Training Commission; Social and Health Services; Early Learning; Ecology; Employment Security; Fish and Wildlife; General Administration; Health; Health Care Authority; Human Rights Commission; Information Services; Labor and Industries; Licensing; Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises; Recreation and Conservation Office; Services for the Blind; Utilities and Transportation Commission; Veterans Affairs; and Workforce Training and Education Board.

June 1, 2010

Urgent call to action on jobs bill that would take away another half billion dollars from our budget

It’s called FMAP, or the federal Medicaid matching funds that helped ease Washington state’s deficit by $500 million.

But on Thursday (May 27) at the 11th hour the U.S. House in Washington, D.C. stripped the FMAP provision from the jobs bill, after AFSCME had secured the support of a majority of the House to keep it in.  Our state budget assumes this money and without it we could be facing more cuts.

Our best shot now is to get FMAP included in the Senate bill, which will come up when Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess this week.  But doing so requires 60 votes and a lot of work in the coming days.

The situation we find ourselves in demands that we use every resource available to persuade members of Congress to support the FMAP funding in the jobs bill.  We cannot expect that things will just turn out OK.  We need union leaders and members calling EVERY member of Congress all this week demanding that they fix this.

The most important thing will be for you to pick up the phone and call the below members of Congress to express your outrage TODAY.

Here’s what you can tell them:
“Hi, I’m calling about the decision to strip the Medicaid funding from the jobs bill.  This was a huge mistake, and one that I’m extremely angry about.  This money is meant to help states shore up budget shortfalls, and we were counting on this money for our state for next year.  Without it, we’re looking at massive new layoffs, particularly for public employees – and that’s going to lead to a higher deficit thanks to increased demand for government services and less tax revenue.  Not to mention a setback to the economic recovery.
“This isn’t just a regular vote for us.  This needs to be fixed and fixed now.  We need you to communicate that with the House leadership and make sure to help us get FMAP money back into the jobs bill when you return from recess.”
Call NOW!
  • Baird, Brian | 360-352-9768 | WA-D (3rd Dist.)
  • Dicks, Norman | 360-479-4011 | WA-D (6th Dist.)
    Inslee, Jay | 360-598-2342 |WA-D (1st Dist.)
  • Larsen, Rick | 360-733-4500 | WA-D (2nd Dist.)
  • McDermott, Jim | 206-553-7170 | WA-D (7th Dist.)
  • Smith, Adam | 253-896-3775 | WA-D (9th Dist.)
Finish your call by saying:
“Thank you for taking a few minutes to help with this important effort! Please let me know if you have any questions.”

DSHS in a dither over initials in union's furlough buttons

Management representatives in the Department of Social and Health Services have raised objections to the Federation’s “No Furloughs!” buttons.

They apparently are aghast at the art design where the first two letters of the word “furloughs” are made to stand out. They allege that this stands for a scatological term that actually has the initials “FY.”
The Federation has no intention of pulling the buttons when all they do is simply state that we are “F.ollowing U.p” against furloughs, and that furloughs are “F.ouled U.p.”

Had we wanted to be scatological, we would have used terms like “snafu” or “fubar,” although to call those words scatological would be offensive to the brave men and women who originated the terms in World War II.

The fact is the response to furloughs from DSHS and other agencies is truly fouled up.

The furlough law has a long list of job classes exempt from the temporary layoffs. Yet our information requests to DSHS for a list of exempt and non-exempt classes have gone unanswered.

That’s poor follow up on the part of the state to a law the governor supported and signed into law.

As we told you in a hotline message last week, the Federation has requested bargaining on furloughs—bargaining required under the law. Yet the state has not given an answer.

That is truly fouled up follow up.

So the state is stonewalling on coming clean on which job classes would face furloughs. They’re stonewalling on bargaining. Worse, agency management keeps sending out wildly differing communications about whom and when and how long furloughs will last—some in blatant disregard of what the law says.

No matter how DSHS or anybody else spells it, that’s just plain wrong.

So our campaign against furloughs continues with the buttons that are not offensive but speak the hard truth management just can’t swallow.

As Federation President Carol Dotlich said: “We’re not the ones who put the F U in furloughs.”