Dedicated WFSE members at the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families show up for kids and families during some of the hardest times in their lives.
I visited the avalanche crew keeping Stevens Pass safe for drivers. I did a ride along with some of our Department of Corrections members in Mt. Vernon. I drove the Green Machine to Walla Walla. I flew to Medical Lake and met the WFSE heroes who pushed residents in their wheelchairs over a mile to safety when the blaze approached Lakeland Village.
Thanks to union action, a Department of Transportation maintenance crew in Eastern Washington is no longer facing a frigid winter without a critical piece of gear: fleece liners for their winter coats.
Even in the best of times, organizing can be tough work. Add in a global pandemic, and growing your local union can seem impossible. Yet over the last few months, a group of interpreters in Washington state hasn't let the COVID-19 crisis slow them down.
Essential workers at several community colleges in King County fought for and won hazard pay, but there's work to do at Bellevue College. Sign the petition!
When UW Medicine announced they would be furloughing staff, our union took action to ensure that any reductions would be minimal and applied fairly. Our team negotiated into early Saturday morning and secured the following:
WFSE members scored several legislative victories over the past week, including bills that will protect our birthdates from public disclosure, hold private government contractors accountable, and grant language access providers the ability to negotiate their health care.
Take a look at the WFSE-sponsored bills that are on their way to Governor Inslee's desk:
Leanne Kunze began serving as the union’s executive director this February after being selected by the AFSCME Council 28/WFSE Executive Board in January. She is the fifth person and first woman to hold the position.
Kunze brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the job, both as a member activist and staff leader.
Thousands of public employees from across the state called in for a tele town hall on January 30 hosted by President Mike Yestramski and Vice President Andrea Vaughn. WFSE's new executive director, Leanne Kunze, was also available to answer questions about pending legislation to protect state employees' personal information (HB 1888).
We'll keep you posted on upcoming tele town halls. But if you missed January's, check out the video below.
Executive Director and International Vice President Greg Devereux retired in January after nearly 40 years in the labor movement. His leadership made the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) one of the strongest AFSCME councils in the nation and a progressive force for working people in Washington State.
Devereux began his career with WFSE in 1993 as the deputy director, and in 1994 he was selected to serve as the union’s fourth executive director. Prior to that, he worked at AFSCME’s Public Policy Department and ran corporate campaigns at the AFL-CIO.
