April 2025
We're Joining A One-Day Washington State Public-Sector General Strike!
By AFT Washington Staff
On Wednesday, April 23rd, public sector workers who will be impacted by the cuts currently proposed in the legislative budgets will stand together in Olympia in a general strike. We are asking locals to send two people to Olympia for a rally at 1:00 PM.
These budget proposals are a five-alarm fire. The cuts now in the budget are severe – the ones two weeks ago were bad enough. These are worse. We can’t overstate how devastating the lack of progressive revenue will be to our students, communities, and workplaces. The time to take strong, united, collective action is now! The state can’t balance its budget on our backs again!
If you will be joining us, please contact Richard Burton at rburton@aftwa.org. We will reimburse your mileage and can provide lunch.
Executive Board Sends Letter To Ferguson Urging Progressive Revenue
By AFT Washington staff
Last week, the AFT Washington Executive Board sent a letter to Governor Ferguson urging him to support progressive revenue; Ferguson has been quite clear that he would reject the Financial Intangibles Tax (FIT), sometimes called a wealth tax, proposed by the House and Senate because it is untried and would face court challenges. We also know that the business community and wealthy interests have spent millions of dollars to squash these attempts at making our revenue system more fair. This left the House and Senate in the position of needing to craft new budgets that did not rely on the anticipated revenue of the FIT. As of yesterday, their new budget proposals would include billions in cuts, and less robust progressive revenue than their previous budgets.
The situation is rapidly evolving; please watch your email for opportunities to take action, and if you are not already receiving the Legisletter, you can sign up here.
The letter to the governor reads:
Dear Governor Ferguson,
I write on behalf of AFT Washington’s membership, representing workers across early learning, PreK-12, and higher education throughout the state. Our members include PreK-12 teachers and coaches, bus drivers, paraeducators, college and university faculty and staff, and many other education professionals serving Washington’s students every day.
We are concerned about the impact of a state budget that fails to help workers stay even with inflation. We urge you to consider the consequences of a budget that not just fails to help our essential workers keep up economically, but sets them further behind. This approach harms our education workforce, the students and families who depend on us, and the employers who rely on a well-prepared workforce.
Washington has the second most regressive revenue system in the nation, creating inequities that harm all of us. At a time when both the Senate and House have heard Washingtonians’ clear call to have a more fair revenue system, your reluctance to embrace these needed changes is troubling. The bold approaches from the House and Senate will benefit the overwhelming majority of our state residents and strengthen our ability to navigate economic uncertainty.
For years, our business community has urged the state to meet their labor market needs by increasing the number of adults with postsecondary credentials. Despite former Governor Inslee adopting the 70 percent postsecondary attainment goal, at the urging of our business community, we have not made significant progress toward this benchmark.
This lack of progress is not due to a lack of effort on the part of the education workforce, particularly in higher education. Our colleges and universities have consistently done more with less, responding to both the evolving needs of our industry partners and the increasingly complex needs of our students. Funding levels as a share of the budget have declined and we still have not made up the lost ground from the Great Recession.
It is unconscionable that at a time when:
- Greater investment in education is clearly needed.
- Students require increased support to succeed.
- Our economy is booming, with the wealthy reaping most of the rewards.
We lack the leadership willing to ask those with the most to increase their commitment to the wellbeing of our educators and those in their care. These are the same Washingtonians whose wealth grows through access to the qualified workforce our educators help develop.
Your comments about “right-sizing” government and seeking greater efficiency before considering progressive revenue options run contrary to the values and priorities of our members and ignore the ever-widening wealth gap in our state. Working people struggle daily just to keep pace with our state’s high cost of living, let alone get ahead. When the governor elected by these same working people says such things, it suggests a concerning lack of respect for our education system and the dedicated professionals who create opportunities for all of us to thrive.
The state legislature has heard their constituents clearly. Citizens who voted overwhelmingly to preserve the capital gains tax in November and who have spent this legislative session calling their representatives to invest in working families rather than protecting the wealthy. Legislators are standing up with their proposed budgets that are a start in addressing the harm caused by our regressive revenue system.
Your rejection of these budgets because they might be hard to implement or face challenges in courts is disappointing. Washingtonians elected you because you have done the hard work for us in the past. As Attorney General, working families relied on you to defend their rights and interests in court. The difficulty of the work should not prevent us from doing what is right and necessary for our state’s future.
Every dollar that is cut from education now represents a significant loss for our state’s future. It decreases our workforce’s preparedness and it disincentivizes Washingtonians to stay here – ultimately harming even the wealthy who oppose these taxes, unless they plan to rely on other state’s education workforces to fill jobs here. We strongly urge you to reconsider your stance on the financial intangibles tax.
Washington’s education workers stand ready to continue building the future our state deserves. We need your leadership and support through fair, progressive revenue policies that invest in that shared future.
In Solidarity,
AFT Washington Executive Board
Per Capita Proposal For Convention
By Karen Strickland, AFT Washington President
As we prepare for the AFT Washington Convention on May 17th and 18th, I want to explain the proposed per capita change our executive board is recommending to make sure you have time to discuss the request and ask any clarifying questions you have at this time.
We are proposing an inflation increase to the per capita rates and the addition of two categories.
The proposed changes have several components: [1] an inflation adjustment of 3% to categories A, B, D, E and F; [2] make no change to the rate for Category C to create more consistency in the dollar amount difference across categories and [3] the addition of Categories G and H to account for the salary increases of our highest paid members.
In 2026 we propose a 3% cost of living adjustment to each category.
Why are we making this proposal?
AFT Washington includes a staff of 11 and the President who work to fulfill the objectives of our union – Article II of our Bylaws names these:
The objectives of AFT Washington shall be:
- Welfare and Justice:
- To promote the welfare of its members.
- To assist locals in their representation of employees.
- To promote and assist the formation, growth, and empowerment of locals.
- To promote the best educational experience for students and communities of the state.
- To advance the professional standards of educational workers.
- To expose and fight all forms of racism, sexism, and other discrimination; to dismantle oppressive systems, work for diversity, equity, and inclusion within our union, our educational system, and our communities; and to become an anti-racist, unified and inclusive union.
- Legislative and Political:
- To initiate and support state legislation beneficial to education and educational workers.
- To secure the conditions necessary to the greatest effectiveness of educational workers and schools throughout the educational system from early learning to higher education.
- Labor and Community Partnerships:
- To participate fully in the organized labor movement of the state.
- To promote the aims and objectives of the AFT and other affiliated bodies.
- To promote mutual assistance, cooperation, and solidarity among the locals of AFT Washington, the AFT, and the AFL-CIO.
Fulfilling these objectives requires dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled staff who work closely with our locals to ensure they are equipped to defend their rights at work and build the most powerful local possible. The needs and capacity of each local depends on a number of factors, resulting in some locals operating more autonomously than others. These factors include access to paid release time for union work, the extent to which management is more or less inclined to support the workforce, the level of experience in union leadership, etc. Our staff play an essential role in ensuring that the leadership of each local is well-equipped to both meet the needs of the membership and build the collective power of the union through member engagement.
The State Federation works actively with the broader Washington State labor movement, our national union, the American Federation of Teachers and community organizations to build, support, and champion the policies, laws and funding needed to benefit our members and their working conditions, e.g. salary and wages, as well as to strengthen our educational institutions and the communities where we exist. Our work with the state legislature, electoral politics, and agencies such as OSPI, WSAC, the Office of Head Start and the SBCTC is critical in achieving gains and fighting off attacks on issues of importance to our members. Ultimately, we strive to achieve an educational system, workplaces and communities characterized by racial, social, and economic justice where all of us have the freedom to thrive.
Since our 2023 convention circumstances in our state and in our country have changed dramatically. We had made significant gains in support for public education and in building local union power in the previous two years. The challenges we face at the present time are varied and significant: an enormous state level revenue deficit, threats to revoke federal funding in public education, the undermining of public institutions such as the Office of Head Start and the Department of Education, among others, and economic uncertainty at both the personal and societal levels. We also can anticipate that these conditions will get worse before they get better, and we will be committed to many battles to preserve public education, worker power and workplace rights.
We also continue to counter the attacks of the so-called Freedom Foundation, whose sole purpose is to destroy the labor movement and weaken us as workers. They are part of a larger force assaulting public education and working people that is extremely well-funded and dedicated to weakening our democracy – see Know Your Enemy for a short list.
A fair, adequate and sustainable per capita system is essential to meeting this moment.
Over the years, per capita increases have been sporadic, diminishing our ability to keep up with the increasing cost of the work we do. In the last several years we have changed our system to draw more revenue from locals with higher-earning members by increasing the number of categories from 4 to 6 while keeping the range within each category as narrow as possible.
This year’s proposal continues that trend, adding categories for salaries above $85,000 and $105,000 and increasing current categories by 3%, roughly the rate of inflation.
The increased revenue does not fully address our budget needs; we will continue increasing membership within existing locals and organizing new locals to ensure a healthy treasury that allows us to do the work to build powerful locals and improve our lives at work and at home.
Resolutions Going To Convention
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
We have received several resolutions from the Executive Board and the Contingent Faculty Issues Committee that will be voted on at the May 17th-18th Convention. You can view them here.
There is still time to submit a resolution! Resolutions guide our work for the two years following the convention and provide a framework for goals we would like to achieve as a federation. Resolutions can be in support of a constituency, such as the 2023 resolutions supporting retirees, school-related personnel, or contingent faculty, or for the full state federation, as with 2023’s resolution calling for better relationships with Washington’s native tribes. There are also many options in between! If you have questions about whether your idea is suitable for a resolution, talk to your UOR! They can help you turn your idea into a strong resolution that will guide our work.
You can view the 2023 Resolutions here. Resolutions for 2025 are due to the AFT Washington office by Sunday, April 27th.
It’s Thirty Days To Convention! Is Your Local Registered?
The AFT Washington Convention, themed Union And Community: Meeting The Moment, will be held May 17th and 18th at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma – thirty days from today! You should have received a reminder notice about delegate registration and the room block at the hotel; please be aware that the special rate for the rooms expires on April 23rd, which is next Wednesday. You can register your delegates through EventBrite. Once they are registered there, we will send delegates a registration link to get their contact information and any dietary or other relevant information.
You’re Invited To The Economic Opportunity Institute’s Changemakers Dinner!
Thursday, May 8th, 5:30 PM
The Economic Opportunity Institute can't wait to celebrate the powerful work of our community and the significant policy strides we've made with you by our side.
Join EOI in welcoming our fabulous new executive director, Rian Watt (he/him), at his very first Changemakers. You'll have a chance to connect with him and our powerful policy staff as they debut our vision for EOI! We’re thrilled to have April Sims (she/her), President of the Washington State Labor Council, back as our emcee for the evening. We are also honored to welcome Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown as our keynote speaker. A dedicated public servant and trailblazer, Attorney General Brown has been a long-time advocate for justice, equity, and economic opportunity. With a distinguished career spanning law, policy, and civil rights, he has championed policies that protect working families and ensure access to justice for vulnerable communities. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of our state’s most influential leaders!
AFT Washington has purchased a table – to register, please contact Somma Rath at srath@aftwa.org.
Please Share With Nursing Program Faculty: Healing, Belonging, and the Passion For Nursing
Friday, May 16th, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Hosted by the Washington Center for Nursing and Seattle University College of Nursing, this lively and transformative conference aims to equip nurses with essential tools for addressing health disparities through interactive, entertaining, informative, and engaging sessions. Lunch at Seattle University included. Learners will gain a deeper understanding of the impact of health equity in nursing, develop practical skills to address disparities at individual and systemic levels, and increase their confidence in applying cultural humility and bias reduction strategies in patient care.
Register here.