State employees take to the airwaves to share: Public Service Matters!

As the special overtime session of the Washington State Legislature continues, lawmakers are still deliberating how we should support the important public services that state employees provide in Washington. At risk is funding for our state employees contract, which has important measures to help us improve patient and staff safety by recruiting and retaining quality staff. , For weeks, as these operating budget negotiations have continued, state employees and their supporters in communities around the state have been engaged in a campaign to remind lawmakers that Public Service Matters!

Together with other state employee unions, we’ve launched a radio advertising campaign to highlight the value of our work and call on legislators to fund our services and contract. The spot urges listeners to call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and tell their State Senator that “we want a budget that supports state employees.” You can hear the ad at http://bit.ly/stateemployeeradioad

In recent weeks, events have been held in cities across the state to honor the people who keep our communities safe, work in our state institutions, those who care for the elderly and disabled, those who teach and protect our children, those who maintain our roads, and those who provide other essential services. These “Public Service Matters” events celebrate the contributions of our friends, neighbors, family members, and customers who are state employees, and call on the Legislature to fund their negotiated contracts.

Check out #PublicServiceMatters for the latest.

Last week, more than 6,000 petitions were handed over to Sen. Karen Fraser (D-Olympia) for delivery to Senate leadership that support funding the contracts. Sen. Fraser told state employees to keep up the pressure on the Senate to do the right thing by funding the contracts.