Washington has 29 union labor agreements, and new contracts for all were funded in the state's most recent budget — except one: the Washington Public Employees Association.
That exclusion has led to finger-pointing, with the union claiming that the state's negotiating tactics led them to miss a deadline to ratify a new contract, while the state is pushing back on those claims.
The WPEA, which represents over 5,300 employees at agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, and several community colleges, is pleading with the governor to veto a budget bill because it doesn't include the $55.8 million requested over the next two years for a 5% pay raise for its members.
WPEA's request for pay raises is small compared to the hard-fought contract for the largest state employees union, the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), which was funded at a cost of more than $500 million in the budget.
But the overall cost of state labor contracts negotiated under the Inslee administration loomed large as lawmakers faced a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall in the next four years. Early in the session, Gov. Bob Ferguson also proposed furloughs for staffers represented by WFSE, but ultimately the union won fully funded contracts with no furlough days attached.
The collective bargaining agreements covered in the $78 billion for the 2025-27 biennium include raises for unions such as the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association, SEIU 1199 and the Teamsters Local Union 117, and total nearly a billion dollars in the two-year period.
Asked if Ferguson is taking the lack of pay increases got WPEA into consideration as he prepares to either sign or veto the budget, a spokesperson for his office said he is "carefully reviewing the budget" and will soon have more to say on Tuesday.
Leaders for the WPEA say a failure to fund a new contract could impact thousands of state government employees such as food safety officers, commercial vehicle enforcement officers, and wildfire fighters.
Some contracts for WPEA locals were funded, including for employees at the Yakima Valley College and for Senate and House Democratic legislative staff. But WPEA contracts for general government and higher education employees, which represent the bulk of the union, were not. Many state agencies employ a mix of those represented by WPEA or WFSE.
Raises of 3% in 2026 and 2% in 2027 were part of the contract ratified by WPEA members in April, similar to the contract approved by WFSE members in October and included in the state 2025-27 budget.
WPEA President Amanda Hacker said she believes the potential discrepancy in pay between WFSE and WPEA workers could have an impact in critical state services, such as wildfire response for the Department of Natural Resources.
If Ferguson signs the budget as is, firefighters represented by WSFE will make $1 an hour more in hazard pay, and up to 9% more in regular and overtime pay, compared to their WPEA firefighting counterparts, she said.
"It will be considerably more lucrative for the WFSE members to respond to fires and our members are the majority of the firefighting workforce, so hopefully nobody's got a home within distance of a tree," Hacker said.
The lack of wage increases puts WPEA-represented employees lagging behind others in similar jobs who are represented by WFSE, she said, and while Hacker thinks most will still show up for their jobs, firefighters may not be as compelled to do so.
Michael Kelly, communications director for DNR, said in an email the agency "supported fully funding WPEA's contract," but would not elaborate on whether the commissioner was concerned about the potential pay discrepancies among firefighters.
The reason for WPEA contracts not being included in the budget depends on who you ask.
After five months of bargaining with the state, WPEA members voted down a contract agreement, just before an Oct. 1 deadline. Union negotiators had sought a 30% hike in wages, and said the proposed 5% increase over two years "would not enable worker salaries to keep pace with rising costs of food, housing and health care."
Hacker says the union then sued the Office of Financial Management in November because OFM "refused to come back to the table."
Had OFM "bargained meaningfully," WPEA wouldn't be in this position, Hacker said. "I don't have a lot of hope in them getting us out of this mess," she added.
But Hayden Mackley, a spokesperson for OFM, argued that the agency was communicative with the union throughout the process.
The no vote by WPEA members in October "was the first time since the State of Washington engaged in collective bargaining that a union did not ratify a tentative agreement," Mackley said. Due to the "uniqueness" of the situation, Mackley said, OFM Director Pat Sullivan sent a letter to Hacker on Sept. 27 about the impacts of the membership voting against ratification would have on the tentative agreements.
Negotiations continued through March, and Mackley said OFM "made it clear" to WPEA that the agency would bargain in good faith. After an expedited hearing, the state Supreme Court in March ruled in favor of OFM.
After negotiations during the legislative session, the union ratified a contract and sent it to OFM on April 3. WPEA was then told by OFM that they had blown their deadline by two days. Had they known there was a deadline on April 1, the union would have submitted the ratified contract by then, Hacker said. The final ratified contract was similar to the one turned down by union members late last year.
This prompted Hacker to attempt to hand-deliver a letter to the governor in recent weeks, but Hacker said she was escorted out of the governor's office by security. Hacker eventually resorted to sending the letter to Ferguson, urging him to not sign the budget and outlining the timeline of events between WPEA and OFM.
A spokesperson for Ferguson's office denied those claims and said "they did not have anyone attempt to drop off a letter," and that "no one was escorted out by security."
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