News

WFSE members have chosen who will represent them at the bargaining table to negotiate their 2025-2027 contracts.

Dedicated WFSE members at the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families show up for kids and families during some of the hardest times in their lives.

Big decisions about our working conditions and livelihoods were made in Olympia during the 2024 legislative session. Through our union, we had a seat at the table and came away with major improvements for public employees.
Fifty-one years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to help rally the community around 1,300 AFSCME sanitation workers who had gone on strike.

In the 1980s, I was living and going to school in Minnesota when women who worked for state government won a big victory. They got the state to increase the pay of women in “female dominated jobs” by passing a pay equity bill. In other words, they put a dent in the gender pay gap. As a student, I researched and wrote about the process of crafting, passing and implementing that legislation. And I learned something that I have never forgotten: the union made it happen. And not just any union. Our union: AFSCME. 

WFSE members from the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) held a summit over the weekend to identify workplace issues and strategize on how they can address them as a union.

Members brought up everything from outdated equipment to the need for biohazard training, issues they plan to take to management next Monday.

Joy Draper, a maintenance lead tech from Tacoma, said that taking on issues starts with becoming a union member.

Washington State House Democrats proposed a 2019-2021 operating budget on Monday that would provide funding for all collective bargaining agreements. This is good news for state employees, however, the budget process will continue to unfold over the next few weeks.

Invest in Public Services, Invest in Us: Email your state legislators and tell them why it's important to fully fund collective bargaining agreements. You can also leave them a message at 1-855-982-1762.

Our union gained more than 9,000 dues-paying members and nearly 19,000 dues-paying retirees in the last year, suggesting that billionaires and corporations are failing in their effort to “defund and defang” public service unions.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — AFSCME Council 28/WFSE and Retired Public Employees Council members are remembering longtime activist and community pillar Wanda Riley.

Riley was a leader in WFSE for 30 years, serving on the WFSE and RPEC boards for many years. She passed away Saturday, March 9, surrounded by loved ones in Olympia.

 “Wanda was a dedicated and fiery champion of working people. We will miss her dearly,” said WFSE President Sue Henricksen.