AFL-CIO Diversity Summit

AFL-CIO Convention Events

The Diversity Summit began Sunday at 9 am. Thornton Alberg, Paulette Thompson, Jacquie Jones-Walsh, and Rodolfo Franco represented Council 28. I spent the morning at the summit prior to attending the AFSCME caucus for AFL-CIO delegates.

AFL-CIO President Sweeney addressed the Diversity Summit, stating that after 14 years of service in that role, he would be stepping down from Presidency of the AFL-CIO but stepping up to perhaps an even greater role as Labor Warrior At Large. He spoke about how important it is to engage those who are members of unions but not full participants in the union, particularly younger workers. He honored the commitment and dedication of AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy.

In 2005, Resolution 2 passed at the AFL-CIO convention and brought about significant change in the make up of Central Labor Council leadership across the nation. Through this resolution, the labor movement made a commitment to full participation and inclusion of all members regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, faith, age, sexual orientation, disability or immigrant status.

Clayola Brown, President of APRI, brought the crowd to its feet as she spoke of the changes in the labor movement since that time. She told the group that opportunities created in the efforts to achieve full inclusion in leadership for people of color, women, disabled, and LGBT had resulted in this wonderful rainbow of people attending the Diversity Summit.

Members were encouraged to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act by contacting Congressional Representatives. It is under consideration now and stands a good chance of passing if it is well supported now. One of the speakers said that in 38 states it is still legal to fire a worker based on gender identification or because there is a picture of their gay, lesbian, transgender partner on their desk. Please make the call and help end discrimination in our country.

AFL-CIO Interfaith Service

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney addressed a labor gathering of members of many different faiths Sunday morning. Justice and Unity were the themes.

Natural Resources Taskforce Met To Prepare For Release of Reform Government Study

WFSE DNR Task Force Meeting September 11, 2009

The multi-agency DNR Taskforce members met to discuss the upcoming study ongoing about the potential consolidation of agency functions pursuant to the Governor’s effort to “reboot” state government.

In her second Inaugural speech, she stated, “We have three agencies managing natural resources each with its own scientists standing in the same stream. We need to reform and we will.”

Robin Arnold Williams, the Governor’s policy director said, “Clearly people do say why do I need to go to four different agencies for this?” Although Arnold-Williams says this focus on natural resources is not primarily about cutting costs and says it’s more about improving customer service and streamlining the permitting process for individuals and companies, members have genuine concerns about the process and want voice in the decisions made.

Whether cost saving or streamlining is the motive, decisions around these issues will certainly impact our membership. It is unknown what the impacts may be since there are allegedly approximately 110 ideas afloat in the upcoming study document. The study is due out on Monday.

The study can be accessed on the WFSE.org on Monday, September 14th after 10 AM (following the press conference).

The group met with Marty Brown, Director of Legislative Affairs – Office of the Governor. Mr. Brown emphasized that this study is just a list of ideas from the agencies. The next iteration will include feedback from stakeholders including this union membership. He states this could be a long term process although there is interest in any improvements that can be passed in the 60 day session. Mr. Brown stated the Governor is interested in ideas our members have in mind. Legislative committees will meet in October and the study is provided to them.

Because the impact of the study and ideas from our own membership will have repercussions across agencies and bargaining units, members are asked to send their comments and thoughts in through our own website at www.wfse.org rather than through other means.

This will allow staff and membership to assess the impact of the ideas on the various bargaining unit members and inform the decisions we, as a union of affected members, make in developing a formal position as a union. Other methods of communication and feedback loops are under discussion/development.

Conversation With The Governor

Meeting With The Governor And Her Staff

This afternoon, Greg Devereux and I met with Governor Christine Gregoire and her staff. The topics we touched on were the selection of a Children’s Administration Director, working condition changes in Children’s Administration, potential institution closures, barriers to good customer service, natural resources issues, mental health, and the issues resulting from what occurred with our contracts last year.

We asked about the Natural Resources study and were told that the study is virtually a list of all ideas, good and bad, in order to allow for public comment on all of it. We were told there will be no “vetting” of ideas by officials prior to public release. We were told the public will be given ample time to provide comments and no group will be given advanced copies of the study.

Pierce County Mental Health RSN plans to release patients prior to October 1st. Prior to this meeting, we were told that current residents in that program will need to be housed at Western State Hospital temporarily until the new vendor has facilities in place. The impacts of that arrangement need to be discussed because of the manner in which DSHS has contracted for those services. Those discussions have not yet occurred. We requested the meeting be held timely.

The Children’s Administration Director decision has not been made. The Governor is, as yet, unaware of any major changes in working conditions at Children’s Administration due to HB2106. We shared information provided by members with her. Please make comments about changes you see in Children’s in the comment box below.

We only had one hour to raise our concerns with her and as you all know – our concerns would take longer than an hour to express. However, we did cover a wide range of subjects, sharing your issues with her.




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Local Union Picnics - Fun for The Whole Family

AFSCME Council 28 Locals around the state hosted picnics for members and their families. Each year, the picnics and fun events for members and their families get bigger and better. I was fortunate to have been invited to several. The family members, young and old, were treated to good food, raffle prizes, and dessert contests and games. One Local provided tickets for children to the IMAX theater. In another, live music was provided all day.

Missed these events? Went to a picnic but still in the mood for summer fun? The Howard Ocobock Memorial Union Camp Outs are coming up this month. There's still time to sign up!

E-Mail Tim@wfse.org or visit www.wfse.org for more information. Next camp date is September 26-27 at Camp Delany. Deadline to sign up is September 14th. See you there!

Farewell To E-Recruiting

Members began celebrating as soon as the radio news picked up information that E-Recruiting was shutting down, soon to be replaced by a third party host system. While I'm not sure what all that means yet, party is the operative word for members who have felt frustrated by the system and who believe they have lost promotional opportunities due to the failures of the current system. Ever the skeptic, I called Human Resources to find out what I could. In fact, E-Recruiting will hang around for about a year. The request for bid will go out in about a month and there is hope that a vendor will be selected by the end of this year. It is yet unknown if information already contained in the current system will be able to cross over to a new process.

Now that the general public has heard the news, I'm told DOP will soon send out the information to the state's workforce.

Because of all the information and problems reported by the membership, the General Government Contract Bargaining Team was able to negotiate language in the contract to mitigate some of the adverse impacts of E-Recruiting. General Government Contract 2009-2011 Article 4.2 states, "Agencies that use the Department of Personnel's E-Recruiting system will accept and process agency- defined paper forms. Upon request, agencies will assist employees through the application process."

Your thoughts about the impacts of the DOP decision are welcome. I look forward to hearing from you.

DSHS Travel Policy Changes - Your Comments Needed Now

A demand to bargain has been filed due to the potential impact of management changes to the DSHS Travel Policy. The following message sent on behalf of Karen Kegley DSHS/FSA prompted action by the union:

ATTENTION: Travelers and Approving Manag ers

Administrative Policy 19.10.06 has been updated with the following changes:


· The time period a Travel Advance can cover has been reduced from 90 days to 30 days.

· The amount of estimated travel expenses that can be paid with a Travel Advance has been reduced from 90% to 75%.

Please contact the Travel Helpdesk if any questions.
Traveldesk@dshs.wa.gov or 360-664-5545.

We have heard the changes to the policy were initiated to deal with an overpayment problem. The Demand To Bargain Meeting is scheduled in Tacoma on September 16th. This policy applies to all of DSHS so has wide impact. If you will be impacted by these changes, please provide your comments and concerns so that your representatives can present them well at the upcoming meeting. There is a comment box on this blog that can be used or you may contact Randy Lorello directly at 1-800-442-8618.

View old policy here: