We, the undersigned, demand that essential staff, including secretary supervisors, secretary leads, admin assistants, secretary seniors, and office managers be granted a significant class-specific pay increase in the 2025-27 contract.

As those in the above-listed positions and those supported by those positions, we understand that critical work in Washington state would grind to a halt without our support staff. Those in the above-listed positions ensure that clients walking in get their questions answers, that those in court and attending meetings for their children have interpreters to meaningfully participate, and so many other essential functions for the families and children in Washington state. They keep us fully stocked in Narcan and PPE and came to work in-person daily at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic so that no person in Washington state went unserved.

We believe it is long overdue for Washington state to pay support staff a fair and livable wage. Support staff in Washington state have only received a class-specific pay increase once in over a decade, which was to bring them above minimum wage. Support staff have not only been on the front lines of the pandemic but have been on the front lines of the placement crisis in DCYF. They go above and beyond daily for a wage that no person could live on.

Support staff are critical in the mission of any agency in Washington state. We are requesting they are paid as such.