Message from Treasurer Rosemary Sterling To All Members:
If you get or have already received a check from the union go ahead and cash it! The State charged us dues when we got the one time payment of $756.00. WFSE looked into this and decided that the dues and fees should not have been taken out of the $756. 00. So, we are all getting the dues and fees taken out of our checks returned to us based on the dues and fees we paid on the $756. I apologize that this has been so confusing. No letter was included with the checks. However, it has 756 on the check stub. In the future we will make sure that letters or at least a clearer notation is added. Rosemary Sterling
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Welcome To Newly Elected Vice President of Council 28
On Saturday, July 18th, the Statewide Executive Board elected Vice President Bill Copland to serve out the remainder of the term of office. Bill is an active member within DOC, currently serves as local president and is a member educator. The role of Vice President is an important one and I know I speak for all of us when I say we deeply appreciate the members who put themselves forward in service to the membership.
Imagine And Act Now!
Imagine being able to negotiate wages without playing guess what the healthcare package is going to cost. Each time we bargain a contract, we must factor in what we think and what the state thinks the healthcare package will cost, not just for our represented people, but for all state employees. Those costs cast a shadow over the talks and have a direct impact on what we are able to do.
Imagine a world where people can actually afford to retire. Without real healthcare reform and a viable public option, the costs incurred by healthcare insurance premiums prevent those who would otherwise leave state service from retiring. In times like these, as members face lay off, imagine the impact that could occur if those who are eligible for retirement could actually do it and not lose the homes and lives they've spent all these years building.
Imagine a world where our co-workers can take all their medicines and treatments instead of choosing which one(s) they'll skip this month. What would the quality of life be for these members?
The "Make America Happen" healthcare campaign may be the most important issue our generation faces. It will change the face of America for future generations and dramatically change future collective bargaining.
We can win this. We must act now. This issue is not for members only. This issue is for all of America and if we are to win, everyone must participate. Take five minutes of personal time and "Make America Happen." Using your personal cell phone on your personal time, call 1-888-460-0813 and tell your Senators and Representatives that you support the current House bill for healthcare for all Americans.
Imagine a world where people can actually afford to retire. Without real healthcare reform and a viable public option, the costs incurred by healthcare insurance premiums prevent those who would otherwise leave state service from retiring. In times like these, as members face lay off, imagine the impact that could occur if those who are eligible for retirement could actually do it and not lose the homes and lives they've spent all these years building.
Imagine a world where our co-workers can take all their medicines and treatments instead of choosing which one(s) they'll skip this month. What would the quality of life be for these members?
The "Make America Happen" healthcare campaign may be the most important issue our generation faces. It will change the face of America for future generations and dramatically change future collective bargaining.
We can win this. We must act now. This issue is not for members only. This issue is for all of America and if we are to win, everyone must participate. Take five minutes of personal time and "Make America Happen." Using your personal cell phone on your personal time, call 1-888-460-0813 and tell your Senators and Representatives that you support the current House bill for healthcare for all Americans.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Executive Director Greg Devereux "Scrammied"
As I read the “Schrammie” award given to Executive Director, Greg Devereux, the faces of the state employees represented by the Washington Federation of State Employees were foremost in my mind. State employees do some of the most difficult jobs in the state. I remember a social worker, attacked with a machete, who, when union members began to collect money among themselves to help her, sent word back that any money collected should be used for the family she was trying to help when she was so viciously attacked. I’m reminded of the workers who spend every day helping the citizens and the businesses of Washington state. The men and women who keep the passes clear in the winter, the workers who care for our most vulnerable citizens, those who make sure that workers in the private sector have a measure of safety on the job and benefits when they’re injured, those who keep the communities we live in safe at no small risk to themselves. How easy it is to malign them in these difficult times.
These state workers, union members, used their own vacation leave to attend legislative hearings to try to keep programs like Basic Health in place. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. Too often paid more than 25% less than the job should pay according to the state’s own salary survey, clearly these state employees care about more than their paycheck – and they prove it every day. These workers are also losing their jobs and those still employed are being asked to pick up a workload that was already difficult to manage due to hiring freezes that were already in place.
These workers spent union dues money to negotiate a contract that now contains no cost of living adjustment. The healthcare package was the most important issue for them because every Washington citizen needs that safety net. Does anyone really believe that the losses state employees suffer don’t reverberate throughout the economy in the same manner the losses in the private sector do?
When times are tough for some of Washington’s citizens, they are tough for all of us and no one is spared except those who caused the problems in the first place and they are not represented by a union.
Greg Devereux did what he should do – speak up for state employees. Given an opportunity to help unite Washington’s citizens and to encourage them to help one another through this financial crisis, Ken Schram, while asserting status as a union member, chose to divide people and use their fear and grief to benefit himself. It takes little effort to tap into the worst in people. It takes someone with real character to tap into what is best in them.
Ken Schram, take your own advice and get off your high horse. You’re the one who doesn’t have a clue. I like Greg Devereux with his BVDs in a bunch over the damage done to state workers. When he receives that “Schrammie”, I will make sure it is displayed prominently in our building and that he knows how much his efforts on our behalf are appreciated.
These state workers, union members, used their own vacation leave to attend legislative hearings to try to keep programs like Basic Health in place. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. Too often paid more than 25% less than the job should pay according to the state’s own salary survey, clearly these state employees care about more than their paycheck – and they prove it every day. These workers are also losing their jobs and those still employed are being asked to pick up a workload that was already difficult to manage due to hiring freezes that were already in place.
These workers spent union dues money to negotiate a contract that now contains no cost of living adjustment. The healthcare package was the most important issue for them because every Washington citizen needs that safety net. Does anyone really believe that the losses state employees suffer don’t reverberate throughout the economy in the same manner the losses in the private sector do?
When times are tough for some of Washington’s citizens, they are tough for all of us and no one is spared except those who caused the problems in the first place and they are not represented by a union.
Greg Devereux did what he should do – speak up for state employees. Given an opportunity to help unite Washington’s citizens and to encourage them to help one another through this financial crisis, Ken Schram, while asserting status as a union member, chose to divide people and use their fear and grief to benefit himself. It takes little effort to tap into the worst in people. It takes someone with real character to tap into what is best in them.
Ken Schram, take your own advice and get off your high horse. You’re the one who doesn’t have a clue. I like Greg Devereux with his BVDs in a bunch over the damage done to state workers. When he receives that “Schrammie”, I will make sure it is displayed prominently in our building and that he knows how much his efforts on our behalf are appreciated.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Letter from AFSCME International to All WFSE Members
The following e-mail was sent to the e-activist network today by the International Union. I wanted to share it with all of you because the message is so important. Here, with a couple of minor edits, is the message:
Yesterday, the folks in Washington put forth their best effort on health care reform. America's Affordable Health Choices Act is a plan we can, and must, support. Now, we need to get this plan enacted.
Join me, your fellow AFSCME members and thousands of people around the country who are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and support this bill. Let's get this done. It can't happen soon enough.
The bill that the U.S. House of Representatives presented yesterday provides a uniquely American solution to the health care crisis. It builds on what works best in our health care system and protects middle-class Americans from an unnecessary tax increase on the health benefits they fought hard to earn. Please make a call today.
Urge your federal representative to support this bill. If you haven't already heard the details of the bill, I am glad to say that it represents much of what you have told us that you and your family need. It would offer a choice of options, you won't lose coverage if you change jobs (or lose your job) and it would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.
The next few weeks and months will not be easy. We are up against formidable opponents who are ready to do anything to keep the status quo — and their massive profits — in the health care system. In fact, the health care industry is spending $1.4 billion to lobby against the bill. We plan on spending every minute of every day working to stop them. Join the fight. Call your representative today and ask them to support this bill: http://www.unionvoice.org/afscme/health_care_bill_house.html
In solidarity,
Tracey ConatyAFSCME e-Action Network
Call To Action Let's Make America Work For All Of Us
On Tuesday, July 14th, I participated in a conference call with International President McEntee. He provided an update on AFSCME’s efforts to support President Barack Obama’s strong attempt to reform healthcare in our nation. The plan we support includes a real public option to provide competition to the private providers. It does not tax health benefits provided by employers - a benefit we have all fought hard to keep. President McEntee asks that we ramp up our mobilization of the membership towards this goal and increase the pressure on our federal Senators. Currently, the House of
Representatives bill is the one AFSCME supports. International staff will be deployed to some states to help with the worksite campaigns. Our state is one of them.
Each generation provides the foundation for improvements for the next. This is our opportunity to pave the way for a better life for ourselves, our children, and their children. We must succeed. Every Local in this Council must make this effort a priority. The campaign timeline is short. Our efforts must be immediate and sustained if we are to be successful. I ask each of you to help coordinate worksite activities in every Local in the state. We need members to make phone calls, send e-mails and letters. This is our time to turn the system around and make “America Happen”.
Representatives bill is the one AFSCME supports. International staff will be deployed to some states to help with the worksite campaigns. Our state is one of them.
Each generation provides the foundation for improvements for the next. This is our opportunity to pave the way for a better life for ourselves, our children, and their children. We must succeed. Every Local in this Council must make this effort a priority. The campaign timeline is short. Our efforts must be immediate and sustained if we are to be successful. I ask each of you to help coordinate worksite activities in every Local in the state. We need members to make phone calls, send e-mails and letters. This is our time to turn the system around and make “America Happen”.
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