PSE of WWU

Well, almost, especially if you read the nomination letters that were written in praise of him.

Kevin is an IT Specialist for ATUS, and he's been awarded the President's Outstanding Classified Staff Award. He'll be recognized at the Convocation on Thursday Sept. 20, and on the President's web site at http://www.wwu.edu/president/recognitions-honors/outstanding-staff.shtml

Attached to this post is a bundle of those aforementioned nomination letters -- read them and be impressed by Kevin, and reflect on the value of classified staff in general.

Congratulations, Kevin!

Our bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement with WWU for our next contract. PLEASE click the title to read this entire post, to learn about this proposed new contract and how to ratify it!

State Representative Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor), who chairs the House Higher Education Committee, is supportive of major boosts to higher education funding, including staff salaries. He met last week with officers from the WWU and CWU chapters of PSE, who illustrated the erosion of staff salaries which have not kept pace with inflation. Read the whole story, and see a graph of the salary erosion, by clicking this link:

http://pseclassified.org/2012/09/we-need-to-be-radically-more-educated/

There's a great guest editorial piece in the Seattle Times that contains a concise rebuttal of this myth that Washington state employees are a budget burden:
http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2019041535_guestjeffjohnsonxml.html

Please click the title to read more.

Have you seen what's on the "Files/Downloads" page on this web site? Most of it's not exciting, but a lot of it is darn useful. It can't hurt to be familiar with where to find things like:

• Your contract
• The executive board members (chapter officers) who represent you and can help you with job problems
• Forms
• And more...

PERS defined-benefit employee contribution rates will be increasing, and the state's budget will also take a hit, to keep the pension plan funded. Click the title to read more.

Health Care Takes Center Stage in Next Two Weeks

A coalition is set to begin bargaining for health care provisions for all state employee unions in Washington. The plans to be offered are also being developed. Click the title for more information.

UPDATE 1 (July 19): Our own Tom Krabbenhoft is participating in the labor coalition for this bargaining. The first two days of bargaining were completed Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Thursday was to be the next day, but has been postponed, with the next date yet to be determined. The Coalition's goal is to hold the line on your health care costs. Please be ready for possible calls to action to back up your bargaining coalition.

UPDATE 2 (July 27): PEBB has determined the monthly premium levels; the details have been added to the main story -- click the title to read all about it.

Some of our members are currently in need of shared leave. Please click the title to find out who, and how you can help out.

PSE of WWU's scholarships for the coming year have been awarded! Please click the title to find out who they are. Congratulations!

A bad bill to cut early retirement flexibility for state employee pensions has passed the legislature and is on its way to the governor. Please click the title to read more, then ask the governor to veto the bill.