HOTLINE 1/29/18

This is the Federation Hotline updated Jan. 29.

Our priority #MeToo campaign sparks poignant House hearing

Thanks to the increased awareness from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the effort to expand the mission to purge Washington’s worksites of non-sexual harassment as well sparked a poignant hearing Monday (Jan. 29) in the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee.

House Bill 2888 addresses workplace bullying by making it an unfair labor practice to subject an employee to an abusive work environment.

“I have seen many of my co-workers bullied,” Patricia Bailey, an Ecology Local 872 member from Lacey, told the committee.

“I have seen a change in their behavior, their medical status, I have seen them become paranoid and unproductive.

“It saddens me to see that adults (the abusers) behave in this manner.”

Bailey is a member of the AFSCME Council 28 (WFES) General Government Bargaining Team.

The bill would expand the Washington Law Against Discrimination to include workplace actions where an employee is subjected to abusive conduct that is so severe it causes physical, psychological or economic hardship to the employee.

It shouldn’t have to be this way, Bailey said as the first of many supporters who testified for the bill.

The bill also provides legal incentives for employers to prevent and respond to mistreatment of employees at work.

When asked by a member of the committee, staff emphasized that labor unions that employ workers would be subject to the stricter anti-bullying standards, too.

HB 2888 is scheduled for a committee vote Thursday (Feb. 1).


Radio interview spotlights our legislative efforts to help the Middle Class

EXCLUSIVE: This morning WFSE/AFSCME Executive Director Greg Devereux on KGY radio worldwide outlined our package of bills aimed at helping middle class state workers.

“We need desperately to address some of the economic issues in this country and we think by bringing up social worker debt relief, affordable housing and shared leave (that) these are things that will help the Middle Class,” Devereux told KGY interviewer Nat George.

Listen to Devereux’s full interview at: https://wfse.org/news/kgy-interview-29jan18

The interview comes in the week when those three bills are in the spotlight to clear upcoming committee deadlines.

  • The social worker debt relief bill (SSB 6259) has its next public hearing Thursday, Feb. 1, in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
  • The Senate version of the affordable housing bill has a hearing tomorrow (Jan. 30) in the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
  • And both versions of the shared leave bill (SHB 1434 and SSB 5295) are awaiting floor votes.

Our priority bills on campus police and PERS 2 default both passed the House earlier today (Jan. 29)

1/30/18 CORRECTION  We got our pension bills mixed up in our last Hotline message. The bill that passed the House Monday on a vote of 66-29 with 3 excused was the PERS 2 default bill, SHB 1560. The PSERS bill, HB 1558, is still in the House Appropriations Committee where it has until Feb. 6 to pass committee. We apologize for any confusion this caused.

  • AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE)-initiated bill giving state college and university campus police binding arbitration (SHB 1559) passed the House on a vote of 82-13 with 3 excused. It now goes to the Senate where it has until Feb. 23 to pass whatever Senate committee it’s assigned to.


Part-timers bill clears Senate committee

SB 6184 that would add part-time state employees to state civil service passed out of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee today (Jan. 29). It now goes to the Senate Ways and Means Committee where it has until Feb. 6 to pass.


Shared leave requests

IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Kellie Divine, a revenue agent 3 with the Department of Labor and Industries in Tumwater and a member of Local 443, is recovering from surgery Jan. 5, post-surgery complications and another surgery Jan. 26. She will be off work at least until April 4. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, please contact your human resource office.

IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Rene Whittington, an office assistant 2 with the Employment Security Department in Olympia and a member of Local 443, has been approved for shared leave. Rene is requesting shared leave to cover the time she has missed and will continue to miss due to the ongoing effects of autoimmune deficiency and subsequent surgeries. Rene has been in the hospital since mid-November. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Courtney Eiswald at (360) 489-4848 or your human resource office.


That’s it for now.


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