skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

WA State Workers Glum about First Furlough Day

play audio
Play

Monday, July 12, 2010   

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Don't be surprised if you call a Washington state agency today and get voicemail instead of a human. After Independence Day, it's the second three-day weekend in a row for employees of most Washington state agencies, boards and commissions. As part of cost-cutting measures, this is the first mandatory unpaid furlough day for the state, although many of the workers don't see it as a bonus day off.

Washington Federation of State Employees President Carol Dotlich says some feel like they're being set up for problems on their jobs, with heavy workloads because of layoffs and cutbacks and now, even less time to catch up.

"The taxpayers should be mad as hell for the lack of services, that state employees will be unable to provide. And the state employees will then be made to look incompetent, which they are not, simply because of the circumstances they're placed under."

The furlough law includes some exemptions, for certain public safety, health and revenue-generating activities. But union leader Dotlich, who is a central supply supervisor at Western State Hospital in Tacoma, says there's been some confusion about exactly who is exempt, which has left workers frustrated. She thinks their attitude about unpaid time off might have been more positive, had the state handled it differently.

"I think if they had asked for volunteers, you may have seen that, in areas where people could do that without harming the public and without increasing an already severe backlog of work. But the way this is being implemented, people are appalled by it."

The state estimates ten scheduled furlough days in the next year will save $48 million. The union says the state is also paying more overtime to some workers and losing federal matching dollars as a result of the furloughs. The union had filed a court injunction last week to try to stop the furloughs, but it was rejected. However, a lawsuit is pending.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021