Making lemonade from furlough lemons –

By The Editors
  
We asked some of our members to send us stories about how people are coping with the furlough.  Trying to make the best of a bad situation can help and it doesn’t hurt to keep your sense of humor, either. The following were sent in by members across the agency.

Let them eat cake!


Kaia Petersen from the Hazardous Waste Toxics Reduction Unit at Southwest makes “Furlough Cakes” and brings them in for her section to share.  Kaia already has a reputation for being a fantastic cook and baker, so she has no problem enticing people throughout the region to cruise by and grab a slice.  So far she’s treated the section and other lucky people who catch wind of it, to such cakes as chocolate pound cake and apple cake.  She has pulled out her cookbooks and is busy plotting cakes to bring in for each month there is a furlough day.  Kaia is humble about her talent and often says that “people will eat anything.”  Fortunately, with her baked goods, it isn’t difficult!
Joe Cason and Nannette Brooks “caught” 
with furlough cakes

Ten things to do on your furlough day

In the tradition of the “top ten” lists of the Late Show…

1. Make a great meal with Hamburger Helper and generic-brand spaghetti.
2. Dress like a hobo and ride a freight train.
3. Look for part-time work at a local farm. If there’s no work at local farms, see #2.
4. Fill out the forms to apply for Medicaid.
5. Make furlough cakes to bring to the office.
6. Sell some of your backyard produce at a busy public location. Apples are always popular.
7. Put on a blues album and sing along. Or howl like a dog if you get tired of singing.
8. Go to your house of worship and confess your sin of being a greedy state employee living like a leech on the taxpayers of the state.
9. Go to the union hall or phone or email your union Local and ask how you can help.
10. Call the Governor and your legislators and tell them you are mad as hell at how they are treating you and you plan to use every furlough day to fight back.

Attend OktoberFest-themed furlough rally on Oct. 11

Furlough rally planned for October 11 at Sylvester Park, Olympia from 11 AM - 3 PM

• Food & Music
• Fight the Furloughs
• Update: Health Care & Negotiations
• Guest speakers
• Legislative Info and more.....

Helping others in need


Members from Local 1253 near the Richland Field Office, including Ecology activists, used a recent furlough day to collect and deliver pet food to low income seniors needing assistance to feed their furry companions. 

Kathy Conaway, one of the participants, said “It felt good to do something positive with the time and to help some people.”

Ideas for belt tightening times

• 
In moderation, enjoy good food, enough exercise and positive thoughts – and thus make room for belt tightening.
• Join a carpool, vanpool, ride a bicycle or walk more – it will save money and help the environment to boot.

• Get involved and advocate for the highest good – otherwise, someone else will decide for you.

• Make a list of things you have been wanting to do – Turn off the TV and see what you can accomplish.

• Keep in close touch with the important people in your life – friends, family, work, your banker.
• Find a way to “wish” for what you need – letting someone know your needs is most of the way to receiving your wishes.

• Put a light under your passions – it will be your mirror to the world and make you feel good, too.

• Remember to have compassion - even your worst day is exceeded many times over by those less fortunate.

• Anything is possible - for those who believe in themselves and what they can accomplish.

• The more ideas the better – just take a little time each day and add your own thoughts to this short list

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An Update on Furlough Grievances

By Rebekah Padgett
     
As we wrap up our third month of furloughs/temporary layoffs, we're learning more about how employees are being impacted.  In July and August, staff working innovative work schedules (such as 9/80 or 4/10) are getting an extra 1-2 hour "ding" above the 8 hours that other full-time staff are receiving.  Whether we chose innovative work schedules to minimize traffic under the commute reduction program or for other reasons, it's unfair to receive this penalty.  We've filed grievances to rectify this inequity.  The grievance was presented at a hearing and we are awaiting a response from Ecology management.
  

A memorandum of understanding between state agencies and the union doesn't fix all of the issues that have come up, but it does set out some fixes to furlough implementation.  For example, those on the 4/10 schedule are allowed to change their schedule for furlough weeks to a 5/8 schedule.  Those on the 9/80 schedule can make a similar schedule change for furlough weeks for September and October, though this is a pilot so we don't know what will happen come November.
    

Finally, Article 34.6 in our contract doesn't allow for the state to reduce employee hours below 20 hours per week. Part-time staff working under 25 hours per week are being forced under the 20 hour mark by the furloughs.  Falling below 20 hours a week ends up impacting retirement eligibility for these individuals.

More grievances have been filed over this issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a union steward in your region. ■

Grievances related to furloughs (number of employees)

• Spill responder exemption: 7
• Part-time below 20 hours: 2
• Alternative Schedule: 78.   

Thoughts on the “Q&A” All Staff Meeting –

By Kerry Graber

I was asked by others to write a response to the all staff meeting held recently by video conferencing.  I’ve been asked to do some tough things lately, but this is one of the toughest. 

I want to be careful about what I say, because I’ve been a proponent in the Union Management Communications Committee (UMCC) of these direct meetings between management and staff.  I and others continue to urge our leaders to provide clear, direct, and accurate information directly to you, and to allow you direct access to them.  
    What I heard at the Q&A session echoes what coworkers shared with me before the meeting, that the furloughs and their implementation are painful.  By contrast I found myself sitting next to someone in the audience who at various intervals muttered to her neighbor that everyone should just quit whining, and that she was tired of hearing the complaints.

Certainly the applause of anti-union sentiment toward the end made me feel tired, tired on behalf of my fellow activists who have been working so hard for everyone, and tired on behalf of the union staff who are busy suing, filing grievances, and fighting for our right to negotiate over the impacts of management decisions.
     Then I remembered who I am fighting for.  I remembered the receptionist who has been trying to avoid it, but qualifies for Medicaid and really needs to apply even with state salary and benefits.  (About 30% of state employees are estimated to qualify for Medicaid).  I remembered the people at NWRO that are losing their homes because they can’t make their mortgage payments and the property taxes of living in or near Bellevue.  I remembered the person who lost out on a chance to buy a home with Obama’s housing credit because someone in Human Resources told the bank the furloughs would cut her salary too low to qualify.  I remembered all the families who rely on one state salary because a spouse lost their job.  It is with great concern and renewed determination that I resolve to keep speaking out for them.

But where is the empathy for these people in the hearts of Ecology’s leaders? When nervous jokes and uneasy banter take the place of a heart-felt apology, I wonder about this “Ecology” that is being remembered so fondly as a special place to work.  As one person said during the meeting, if a wedge is being driven between management and staff, it is by these leaders who claim to have your best interests at heart, but refuse to fight for you downtown. 

A person in my region stopped me in the hall and said, 

“Someone has to fight for us, because we didn’t cause the financial crisis and we shouldn’t be the ones to pay for Wall Street’s mistakes.”

The Federation and the collective action of union members are the only shield we have from whatever is next as the state’s economy continues to worsen. 

So I ask you, don’t believe the excuses you were told by our leaders at the Q&A.  It is the Federation and fellow union members who are duking it out in the courts, in the legislature, at the negotiating table and in the media on your behalf. 

It was management delays that pushed negotiations on the furlough impacts past the deadline.  It was OFM that insisted the furloughs be implemented in the worst possible way.  It is our management who decided to march to Governor Gregoire’s drumbeat for the sake of “being trusted” to follow orders.

 Our agency leaders gamble that by being good soldiers, Ecology will weather the next storm by being protected as a kind of quid pro quo.  Even I, optimist that I am, do not believe that will pay off.  It is the hardworking people at Ecology who will pay for this hubris in layoffs, health care increases and maybe even more furloughs.  
    It accomplishes nothing to turn co-worker against co-worker at this difficult time.  Please, get active and help us fight for you.  No one cares if you’ve been anti-union in the past. We need your help.   ■