Call To Action November 2011

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The legislature will convene this coming Monday, November 28th. Some of us will be at the capitol that day to carry messages from our membership and to continue the fight for the working class. Many more of us will come on the days following and it is very important that members be here. It will not be enough.

The current economy is called “The Great Recession”. I call it “Depression”. The attacks on us as public servants and middle class families is more than depressing – it is outrageous.

The slash and burn done to the Washington state budget has led to thousands of layoffs, incapacitated us in educating our young people, placed our vulnerable citizens at risk and now threatens our very safety in our homes and communities as the state reduces supervision of felons.

We are left reeling in the face of what threatens our state and our families.
The Governor has already proposed huge cuts to public services, education, and public safety. Our healthcare, our pensions, our programs and our jobs are threatened in this upcoming legislative session. The future of our state hangs in the balance.

The continuing loss of family wage jobs only deepens our economic crisis. The loss of affordable seats in our colleges and universities threatens our economic future. Our consciences cannot cope with turning our backs on our elderly, our disabled, our veterans and our unemployed. Our beautiful parks and our natural resources, this environment we all enjoy, are threatened as well.

We know too well the fight to keep our top notch injured worker program and our facilities that house the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled. We have felt the loss of our juvenile facility, Maple Lane, the closure of our developmentally disabled homes at Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Ahtanum View prison, and the list of reductions and closures is too long to recount.

We, the public sector workers and the citizens we serve have paid the price for Wall Street excesses. One side of the aisle calls the hand outs and bail outs to big business “tax breaks”. The other side of the aisle calls them “tax incentives”. One side of the debate calls on big banks and corporations to pay their fair share during these tough times. The other side of the debate says don’t attack “job creators” . Well, here’s the real debate. Did the state’s public servants cause the economic crisis? NO! Does attacking the public safety net in the face of large scale unemployment make sense? NO! Will public sector employment lay offs solve the problem? NO! Do we want our parks to close? NO! Does deregulating industry to allow environmental damage make sense? NO! Does ending opportunity for young people to attend college make sense? NO!

So what can we do to make a difference? We all recently received a WFSE newspaper. In it, our legislators are listed with contact information. These elected representatives are accountable to us - the voters of this state. Please resolve today to find that newspaper and contact those legislators that are supposed to represent us and ask them to close outdated tax breaks and incentives that are not working and to support a strong economy that preserves the middle class, preserves the safety net, and protects our neighborhoods. We deserve no less.

Don’t delay – do it today! If they don’t hear from us – the silence will be devastating!