November 2022

We did it! Election victories in the Washington State Legislature

By Anna-Marie Magdalena, State Affiliate Political Organizer

Congratulations to all our members who door knocked, phone-banked, turned out their coworkers to vote, and cast their ballots. Statewide, we are seeing our hard work pay off.

From the primaries to the general election, our members stepped up to turn out the labor vote through the Washington State Labor Council’s Labor Neighbor campaign and our member-to-member outreach. A big shout out to Ines Poblet, Lisa Fortson, Gillian Reese, Jacqui Cain, John Gilbertson, Peter Pihos, Greg Bem, David Fox, Rebecca Talbott-Bluechel, Susie Wilson, Jim Drinkwine, Tran Phung, Renee Potter, David Ortiz, Jake Heare, Claudia Levi, Geoff Cain, Diane Follet, Maria Cuevas, Curt Warmington, Hector Saez-Nunez, Natalie Simmons, Rick Geist, Daniel Chard, Glenn Nesse, Edoh Amiran, and Burt Weston for their work in Washington State races. In addition, we heeded the call from AFT Nation for volunteers to get out the vote in key congressional districts, including Retiree VP Renee Potter, who went to Nevada, former AFT Washington President Susan Levy, who went to Oregon, and AFT staff member MaryJo Shannon who went to Arizona. This is not an exhaustive list of all the work our members did during the elections, but it shows our union power when we take collective action to get our endorsed candidates elected.

In many key legislative districts, our endorsed candidates won their election. For example, Darya Farivar won her election in the 46^th Legislative District in North Seattle. She will bring a wealth of knowledge and advocacy experience to Olympia, including working for increased support for Special Education and our members who work with this underserved community. In addition, the Vice Chairs of the State House College and Workforce Development Committee, Rep. Debra Entenman (LD 47 Kent, Auburn, Renton) and Rep. Mari Leavitt (LD 28 Lakewood, University Place) are headed back to the state house.

We are still monitoring races that will define how strong of a majority we have for worker- and public education-friendly legislators. These include State Senator Emily Randall (LD 26 Gig Harbor and South Kitsap County), Chair of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, United Faculty of Western Washington Union member Sharon Shewmake (LD 42 Whatcom County), WEA member and teacher John Zingle in LD 18 (Southwest Washington), and State House Committee on College and Workforce Development member Dave Paul (LD 10 Skagit and North Snohomish County).

A few races are still up in the air, and we are keeping a close eye on endorsed candidates in those races, including Addison Richards (LD 42 Whatcom County) and Clyde Shavers (LD 10 Skagit and North Snohomish County) whose elections would give us a stronger majority in the state house by flipping seats in favor of labor. Federally, Senator Patty Murray won her re-election and initial results show a strong lead for Congresswoman Kim Schrier (CD 8) and candidate Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (CD 3). You can follow the election results for the federal and legislative elections here.

We’ve got exciting plans being made for how we’ll make our legislative agenda a priority for the newly elected and re-elected legislators, and we’re eager to share them with you as we get closer to the session!

Charter School Teachers in Bellingham Achieve First-Ever Union Contract in Washington!

By Bob Downing, Union Organizing Representative

This year, the teachers at Whatcom Intergenerational High School in Bellingham organized their union with AFT and successfully bargained their first contract with new job security, improved time off benefits, and other protections. This milestone is the first-ever union contract for charter school teachers in our state, and the beginning of a new statewide AFT local of charter school educators.

Cam Kolk teaches at WIHS and helped organize the unionization campaign from the beginning. Now that they have a contract, he says: “It felt amazing to have all our hard work realized to bring basic labor rights and protections to teachers in our charter schools.” Those protections include the right to a fair process in cases of discipline/discharge, and the ability to file grievances when management engages in unfair work practices. But that’s not all.

“I think the biggest win for us was expanded sick leave,” Cam says. “We went from losing all of our sick days at the end of each year to having a sick leave bank where we can save all of our remaining sick days each year.” The contract also ensures teachers have the time they need to do their work at school, limiting the number of lunchtimes they have to oversee and ensuring an 80-minute prep period every day. There is also a new evaluative process in place to encourage teacher development.

”Our new organization is one that is founded on the idea that equity and improved working conditions bring improved learning conditions for all students,” Cam says. Now that WIHS teachers finally work under the protections of a union contract, students, teachers, and family members can focus on making WIHS a better school for the community. It shows how voting Union Yes is a win-win for everyone.

AFT Washington’s 2023 Legislative Agenda

AFT Washington is a state federation of 39 locals representing thousands of education workers, including Head Start educators, charter school teachers, preK-12 classified workers in roles including bus drivers, nutrition workers, paraeducators and more, faculty and staff at 19 community and technical colleges, faculty at the regional 4-year public universities, and retirees.

We have used a racial equity lens in crafting our 2023 Legislative Agenda and will apply it as we advocate for our own and our labor and community allies’ legislation. We recognize the ways in which policy and funding may perpetuate oppression, the urgent need to dismantle systems of racism and other types of oppression, and the connections between economic and racial oppression.

PreK-12

• Nutrition Services Workers: Legislation to provide free meals to preK-12 students will likely be introduced now that the pandemic-related expanded federal program has ended. We fully support free meals at school and want to be sure that the working conditions and staffing levels are adequate to meet the increased demand. Based on the impact on workers during the pandemic, we know the need exceeds current staffing levels.
• Education Standards: The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is proposing legislation to expand access to continuing education for paraeducators. We are bringing our members’ voices into this discussion and anticipate supporting this legislation.
• School Employees’ Benefits (SEBB): The SEBB labor coalition has bargained a modest increase to the benefit package, and we will advocate inclusion of this funding in the budget.

Higher Education

• New Tenure-Track Positions at Four-Year Colleges: Our higher education system over-relies on adjunct faculty, and in doing so weakens the life of the college for students and faculty both. The impacts range from shared governance to academic freedom to pay disparity. By creating 200 new tenure-track positions at the four-year universities, the state will begin to reverse this long-standing trend, to the benefit of students, faculty, and the colleges themselves.
• Bridge To The Future: The Community and Technical Colleges (CTCs) have not invested in their faculty and staff in years, resulting in compensation well below average compared to peers in other states and K-12 teachers in Washington. We support the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ compensation request and are also seeking funding to address part-time pay inequity. Prioritizing compensation improves working conditions and student success alike.
• Communities For Our Colleges (C4C): C4C is prioritizing cost free college and expanded wrap-around services for students. These will improve student access to college and are foundational considerations for achieving Washington State’s goal of 70% of the post-secondary-aged population holding a credential, degree, or apprenticeship.

Retirees

• TRS 1 Cost of Living Adjustment: The state provided a COLA for most of its retirement plans earlier in 2022. However, retirees who retired under TRS 1 did not receive a COLA. We are working in coalition with other organizations to push for a TRS 1 COLA.

Progressive Revenue

Progressive revenue addresses income inequality and the stockpiling of wealth by corporations and individuals. When the wealthy pay their share, we have the funds to strengthen the social contract by making investments in people and in the public good. We broadly support policies that build an economy that works for all and that update our tax code to be more equitable.

Labor

The Washington State Labor Council’s United Labor Lobby is developing our worker-focused legislative agenda. We will support policy and funding that addresses the needs of working people and allows us to thrive in the workplace and in our communities.

Social Justice

We will support legislation identified by our community partners, including the Racial Equity Team, Health Care For All, and others that create equity and social justice for Washingtonians.

Implications of the End of the Health Emergency Declaration

Governor Inslee ended Washington State’s health emergency on November 1, 2022. Below are ways in which our members may be impacted by this decision. This document is provided with the intent of identifying the most likely questions and concerns to arise; it is not intended for broad distribution. Links to additional information are provided at the end of the document.

The end of the declaration has implications for unemployment, PFML, employer responsibilities, and L&I issues.

Unemployment Insurance

• The public health emergency is still in place because the federal declaration lasts until March 1, 2023. It could be ended sooner or extended.
• High risk individuals still have some protections: they can limit their employment to “work from home” jobs, are eligible for unemployment, and have “good cause” to quit if or when they can’t work from home.
• ESD will consider the need for protection of high-risk individuals in the home with the applicants.

Paid Family and Medical Leave

• PFML does NOT cover quarantine due to exposure.

Employer Responsibilities

• Assess and address COVID-19 hazards in the workplace.
• Require employees with positive test to stay out of workplace for 5 days.
• Notify employees of any potential exposures at work.
• Refrain from discrimination against high-risk employees seeking accommodations.
• Allow mask wearing (as long as it isn’t a safety issue).
• Hygiene: provide hand washing facilities and supplies and clean/sanitize surfaces.
• Masks are still always required in healthcare settings and correctional facilities when community level is medium or high.
• Masks are required when the DOH or a local health jurisdiction requires them.

Vaccination Mandate

• The school district, center, or college has the authority to require vaccination for their employees.

Labor and Industries

Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA) – protection of workers during a health emergency declared by president or governor. This is legislation that was passed in 2021 and remains in effect until both the federal and state emergencies are declared over. The federal emergency will end on March 1, 2023 unless President Biden ends it sooner or extends it. Protections include:

• Frontline workers required to be in-person with the public (including educators at all levels) are presumed to have contracted the illness at work. A preponderance of evidence to the contrary may override the presumption.
• High risk employees can’t be discriminated against, discharged, or replaced because they seek an accommodation or use their leave if accommodation isn’t possible.

Many AFT Washington members are frontline workers as defined in the HELSA and therefore, if they have contracted COVID, are presumed to have contracted it at work making them eligible for L&I benefits. HELSA-defined frontline workers includes:

Sec. 1.7.f

(xi) Educational employees, including classroom teachers, paraeducators, principals, librarians, school bus drivers, and other educational support staff, of any school district, or a contractor of a school district, that are required to be physically present at a school or on the grounds of a school where classes are being taught in person, in a transportation vehicle necessary for school operations, or in the home of a student as part of their job duties, if the employee has in-person interaction with students, a student's family members, or other employees as part of their job duties;

(xii) Employees of institutions of higher education that are required to be physically present on campus when classes are being taught in-person, if the employee has in-person interaction with students or the general public as part of their job duties. For the purposes of this subsection, "institution of higher education" has the same meaning as in RCW 28B.10.016;

Primary Sources for More Detail:

1. Labor & Industries – Updated COVID-19 Requirements and Guidance (Please note that many of the protections offered by HELSA, Agency Emergency Rule, and other RCWs and WACs remain in place until the end of the Presidential Emergency Declaration, currently scheduled for March 1. This could be extended, or shortened, by order of President Biden).
   1. https://lni.wa.gov/agency/outreach/coronavirus/requirements-and-guidance-for-preventing-covid-19
   2. Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA) Implementation (wa.gov)
2. Department of Health – Updated Covid-19 Requirements and Guidance.
   1. https://doh.wa.gov/emergencies/covid-19
3. Employment Security Department – Updated Covid-19 Resources, FAQs, and information pertaining to Federal Benefits
   1. https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19

Race & Labor Training with the Northwest Washington Central Labor Council

Would you like to be a better leader in your workplace and a voice for change? Join with leaders from AFT Washington and the Washington State Labor Council at the Northwest Washington Central Labor Council on Wednesday, November 16^th for a participatory workshop designed to provide practical tools for building union solidarity in our workplaces.

November 16^th, 6:30 – 8:30 PM, in person in Bellingham. This location is ideal for Whatcom and Skagit County locals!

Register here.

If you are interested in doing the Race & Labor training for your local or e-board, contact your UOR and we can arrange that.

Adjuncts Building Community (ABC) Mini-Conference: Local Bargaining and Advocacy

There are two paths to contingent faculty job security and pay equity: local bargaining and state legislation. Both paths require engagement of your local union's contingent faculty membership. This year's Adjuncts Building Community Conference (ABC) will be split between Fall and Winter Quarters. The first (remote) session will focus on local bargaining and advocacy and will be held on November 18th. The second (in-person in Olympia) session will be an ABC caucus during AFT Washington's Lobby Day, on President's Day 2023.

The target audience of the remote session is two-fold: local leaders of all kinds, and contingent faculty rank-and-file. We intend to talk in-depth about how full-time faculty can be good allies.

Registration is open now. Please share with your adjunct members!

The Struggle To Protect Reproductive Rights and New Organizing

The AFT Washington Human Rights Committee is holding an event for Human Rights Day 2022: the Struggle to Protect Reproductive Rights and New Organizing. The event will be held on Saturday, December 10th as a webinar. In the spirit of Human Rights Day, we recommit to the ongoing struggle to uphold human rights and building solidarity across issues, movements and organizations.

Register here.

It’s Time To Build The Bridge To The Future

AFT Washington is calling on Governor Inslee to understand the working conditions our members have, and that they are the learning conditions of our students. We are calling on the legislature to make significant investments in our state’s CTC system, which is a bridge to the future, connecting our diverse student population with the quality jobs of tomorrow. We have a digital version of the petition to sign here, and your UOR will be working with you to get paper petitions circulating on your campus.