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.