Evan Smith: Many State offices closed Monday
Sunday, July 11, 2010
By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer
(NOTE: This post includes material from the Seattle Times, the Everett Herald, Lynnwood Today, the Daily Olympian and the Associated Press.)
If you try to call a State office Monday, you may find the office closed. If you want to contact the Department of Licensing, you'll find it closed both Monday and Tuesday.
The offices will be closed because many State employees will be taking one of 10 unpaid furlough days scheduled for the next twelve months.
The Department of Licensing will be closed both Monday and Tuesday because D.O.L. offices. like those in Lynnwood and north Seattle, regularly are closed Monday and open Tuesday through Saturday; so employees will take their furlough Tuesday. D.O.L. officials point out that theirs is one of several agencies who have services available on line.
About a third of the State’s workers are scheduled for unpaid furlough days Monday plus August 6, September 7, October 11 and December 27 this year and January 28, February 22, March 11, April 22 and June 10 in 2011.
The 2010 Legislature mandated the furlough days as a way to cut expenditures to deal with the State budget deficit.
A recent state employees' union request for a temporary court order to block the first furlough was unsuccessful. The suit by the Washington Federation of State Employees, however, does continue in an attempt to to try to block the coming furlough days.
Most departments will have some or most of their employees away from the office Monday. Some State Patrol and Department of Corrections workers also will be on furlough, although not the troopers on the roads, detectives investigating crimes or the guards in the prisons.
The Legislature spared employees needed to protect public safety or public health, or to generate revenue. So while many Department of Social and Health Services offices will be closed, child-protective workers will be on the job. The state Liquor Control Board administrative staff will be off, but state liquor stores will remain open.
Some offices under the control of independently elected state officials also won't be closed because they found other ways to come up with required budget savings.
Overall, between 33,000 and 35,000 State employees are expected to have time off without pay.
Departments with significant numbers of employees on furlough include Agriculture, Commerce, Early Learning, Ecology, Employment Security -- although local Work-Source offices and the unemployment-claims call center will remain open --- Fish and Wildlife, General Administration, the Governor's Office, Health, Labor and Industries, Licensing, Printing, and Social and Health Services.
While the governor's office will be closed, the governor's security detail will be on the job.
The state estimates it will save about $70 million through the furloughs. Reactions to the furloughs have varied, but few workers speak out publicly against them. Some told The Olympian newspaper last month they were afraid of losing their jobs, while others said they were not allowed to speak.
"I'm OK. I'm grateful to have a job," said one Department of Licensing worker named Tammy, who declined to give her full name. "We've got co-workers and spouses that have been out of work for a year."
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1 comments:
I'm not sure what state employees the media is talking with, but many of us are willing to speak up. While we're grateful for our jobs, it's only about 20% of state employees bearing the burden of the furloughs for the entire state. If all of us only took a couple of days of furlough, the savings would be met and we'd be done with this. A number of state workers are already making choices between medications and utilities and are close to losing their homes. Furloughs amount to about a 5% pay cut for staff who already are 25% below market in salary.
Did the legislators mention that furloughs may actually cost tens of millions in lost federal matching funds, and end up in overtime costs (as in Oregon)? The Cabinet agencies decided not to develop alternative plans as outlined in the furlough bill, because it's easier to fall back on the 10 days even if some agencies won't need all of them to meet their compensation reduction goals.
Please know that we've already lost many through layoffs and that we're overloaded with the remaining work. Furloughs make it harder for us to issue your permits and handle your cases, costing you additional time and money.
Interesting note: the Dept of Ecology has actually locked out staff keycards to keep us from going in to the office today--they acknowledge how hardworking we are and are so worried that we'll come to work in spite of the furlough that they've locked us out (something they don't even do on nights and weekends when you'll often find several of us trying to make a difference).
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