DSHS Furlough Information

Local union leaders have faced lots of questions about the additional furlough days recently negotiated. This only applies to the additional furlough days. In follow up to the negotiations, I will try to clarify some of the issues.

If a member works on a holiday, they will earn time and a half. They will have satisfied one of the furlough days. If the member is designated a different day as holiday, the impact is the same. Compensatory time may not be used on the holiday because the plan is to safely staff the facilities while accruing the savings in order to save jobs. Members should still be able to designate the accrual of comp time instead of cash for the four hours and if you are being told no by management, we need to know the facility where that is happening.

November has three holidays and those days may all be used to satisfy furlough days. If management is saying only one day is being used for furlough and the others are not, we need to know the name of the facility where that is happening.

The part time members satisfy their furlough based on their part time hours. For example, if they work four hours a day - their furlough is four hours. If they are below the dollar amount specified in the agreement, they are able to use leave.

Union dues are reduced during furlough times because our dues are based on a percentage of the wages earned. When we earn less, we pay less.

If an area is exempt from furlough, none of the agreement applies.

These are the questions I have received thus far. I welcome any others you may have. This is a very difficult time for all of us. No one, including me, wants to be furloughed. Many of us struggle financially and we must find ways to help one another. This negotiated furlough allowed some options for people that the furlough legislation did not.

Secretary Dreyfus told us at the table that she would not put forward furloughs in the upcoming budget. While that may not stop the legislature, at least we won't be fighting another management budget plan that includes them.

The election decisions that were made will require us to mount a huge response. The money lost to the state will create even greater challenges than the ones we have faced to date. Stand strong and be ready. We will need everyone to work hard during the legislative session if we are going to turn away the attacks we will soon face. We can only succeed if every one of us is united in the effort. Stand strong. We Are The Safety Net. We Are The Union That Makes Washington Happen.