About 100 Western Washington University employees staged a walkout on Tuesday, Sept. 10, as part of a Washington-wide action by state employees.
Members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) walked out on their lunch breaks at noon today amid bargaining with the state’s Office of Financial Management over compensation packages. WFSE represents 50,000 public workers in Washington and around 300 at Western.
Walkouts took place at Western and Whatcom Community College in Bellingham.
At Western, WFSE Local 1381 represents units of both supervisory and non-supervisory classified staff, including office-clerical workers, custodians, maintenance workers, operations workers and more. The local is currently in bargaining with Western on a new two-year contract.
The outcome of the statewide bargaining will impact what Western employees are able to ask for. Mirabelle Lemieux, vice president of the local 1381, said Western administration generally makes decisions based on OFM recommendations, but could go higher.
Lemieux said they are currently asking Western for a “much higher” compensation package than what was last suggested. The Office of Financial Management suggested a 2% raise in 2025, and a 1% raise in 2026, which WFSE said will amount to a pay cut, factoring in inflation.
“Thirty percent of our members are making lower than a living wage on Western’s campus,” Lemieux said. The bargaining team is asking for an increase to the campus minimum wage, increased locality pay and better bereavement and parental leave.
“[We’re] really just hoping that the university management hear our plea for livable wages and just a respectable work environment,” Lemieux said. “This used to be a place that people were really, really proud to work at, and it has not kept up with inflation whatsoever, and we’re just hoping to see that changed.”
Western spokesperson John Thompson said in a statement Tuesday that WWU is committed to reaching agreement on a “fair and equitable” contract with WWU WFSE.
“WWU respects our employees’ rights to participate in these types of activities and has notified departments on campus that such activity is permitted on non-work time, or on approved leave so long as employee safety and business operations are not disrupted,” Thompson said.
News releases from the WFSE detail concerns with high turnover for state government employees, citing a statistic that 40% of the state employee workforce has turned over in eight years from resignations alone.
The Office of Financial Management is currently bargaining with 30 other groups of state-represented workers, with a deadline of Oct. 1 to come to agreements with unions.
“The parties continue to engage in meaningful dialogue that balances the fiscal realities with the state’s needs, policy priorities, and the critical role our employees fill in serving the public,” Deputy Communications Director Hayden Mackley said in an email to CDN. “We are facing challenging fiscal choices as we anticipate limited revenue in the upcoming biennium. Just as we’ve asked state agencies to limit new programs and request only essential funding, we are applying the same principle to our negotiations.”
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
