The October 1st Letter

Today is the day, October 1st. Most years this day ushers in nothing more than a cool breeze and pumpkin spiced everything. This year brings so much more.

With historic turnout, on September 30th WPEA members covered under the General Government, Higher Education, and Highline College voted against ratifying the 2025-27 TAs.

While members were casting their votes and building power, the Office of Financial Management(OFM) was trying to find a way around the the members’ votes. This is concerning at face value but more so when you realize that OFM is the lead negotiator for the state employers covered by these contracts.

On September 27th, 2024, The Director of OFM, Pat Sullivan, wrote a letter to President Amanda Hacker, expressing concerns over the potential rejection of the tentative agreements (TAs) by the WPEA membership. Sullivan highlighted that OFM viewed a “no” vote on the TAs as a breach of good faith bargaining. With the October 1st deadline looming, Sullivan ask President Hacker if WPEA leadership could still ratify the contracts if membership voted against ratification. He reiterated the legal requirement to submit the TAs by October 1st for inclusion in the Governor’s 2025-27 budget and emphasized the consequences of missing this deadline, which would delay any potential agreements until July 1st, 2026. Sullivan concluded by stressing the importance of adhering to the legal framework and reaffirmed OFM’s commitment to continue bargaining in good faith if no agreements were submitted by the deadline.

On October 1st, 2024 President Amanda Hacker wrote a lengthy response clarifying that the rejection of the TAs by WPEA members was not due to the bargaining team’s recommendation, but rather because the agreements failed to offer substantial gains after nearly two decades of inadequate contracts and salary increases. Hacker also expressed frustration over OFM’s handling of negotiations, particularly regarding repeated postponements of agency-specific bargaining sessions forcing firefighters to bargain the middle of fire season and other mismanagements of time. She criticized OFM for interfering when both the union and the employer agree on member needs and for dismissing member concerns altogether. She disputed OFM’s assertion of bad faith bargaining, stating that WPEA had consistently communicated concerns about the TAs’ lack of appeal to the members, which OFM did not address. She detailed the long-standing issues faced by WPEA members, including the over 20% loss of purchasing power over the years, sub-par wage increases, and inadequate responses to non-economic issues that could improve working conditions. She also emphasized the disparity in compensation between WPEA members and other state employees, highlighting the significant gaps shown in the State Salary Survey and the failure of OFM to address these discrepancies adequately. She asserts her role as a representative of the members’ voice and commitment to upholding their decisions. When Director Sullivan asked,“…we want to confirm whether the WPEA union would have the ability to move the tentative agreements forward on its own even if the membership votes ‘no.’”, President Hacker responds , “On its face, that question doesn’t make sense – the WPEA union is the membership that voted no on the TA’ed agreement. Indicating that there is some separation between what the “WPEA union” would do and the will of its “membership” is a mistake.” President Hacker rejects the notion that the WPEA union leadership would move the TAs forward without the support of the membership.

To read the letters in their entirety: OFM Letter – Sept 27th

WPEA Response – Oct 1st

WPEA leadership has both notified OFM that these contracts were not ratified and requested bargaining dates.

CALL TO ACTION

2024 Bargaining continues… The bargaining teams need your support!

• On Wednesday We Wear Blue – WPEA Blue if you have it, sky blue, navy blue, Seahawks blue, any blue will do.
• Attend UNITY meetings on Wednesday: noon, 5pm and/or 6pm
• Watch the CBA Bargaining page to stay updated!

In Solidarity,

WPEA UNITY Team

Solidarity@wpea.org