WA state employees fought against furloughs. They count new WA budget a ‘win’
Throughout the 2025 legislative session, critics accused state leaders of trying to balance Washington’s budget on the backs of state workers.
Those elected officials apparently took note.
The Washington Federation of State Employees said in a recent news release that it’s counting the adopted budget as a “win.” Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a budget May 20 that doesn’t include furloughs and that funds union contracts and WFSE raises.
Ferguson and some state lawmakers had considered imposing furloughs — mandatory days off without pay — to help balance the multi-billion-dollar budget.
The governor in February floated one-day-a-month furloughs over two years for most state employees. Senate lawmakers, meanwhile, had included 13 furlough days in their initial budget plans.
State workers didn’t like those ideas. Protests ensued.
WFSE President Mike Yestramski said in an interview that if the final budget had included furloughs, it would have effectively negated the cost-of-living adjustments in members’ contracts.
He also said WFSE fought to defeat a bill that would’ve significantly raised the cost of every public employee’s health care.
“It really comes down to our members,” Yestramski said of WFSE’s successes. “Our members were active, were paying attention. … As soon as something would come down the pike, they were ready to jump right on it and respond.”
Elected officials this year had also considered closing Rainier School and Yakima Valley School, two state-run residential habilitation centers for people with developmental disabilities.
WFSE contends that such “unnecessary” and “cruel” closures would have eliminated 645 jobs and prompted 119 people with disabilities to move. The union, along with other advocates, worked to stymie such efforts.
Given the grim fiscal situation Washington faced, Yestramski said he is pleased with the budget Ferguson signed.
“I mean, there were some hard cuts still made,” he said. “There was going to be pain regardless. But I do think it was minimized to a certain extent.”
Other successes counted by WFSE include stopping “devastating” cuts to The Evergreen State College and securing increased safety and capacity in juvenile rehabilitation facilities, including a new 48-bed living unit at Stafford Creek and more security at Echo Glen.
But WFSE says that there’s still work ahead. Yestramski said he’d like to have seen a more aggressive push for progressive revenue, such as with a so-called wealth tax.
Jeanette Obelz, WFSE Local 889 President, said in a news release that the union didn’t only fight back for members but “for the most vulnerable Washingtonians whose very lives were put at risk.”
“As a child welfare worker, I’ve seen the harmful impacts of staffing shortages,” Obelz said. “This budget funds our contracts, protects our healthcare, and increases our pay so that we can keep the workers who keep the children of Washington state safe.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM.
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