Newsletter | May 2025

Having a union means your wages are going up on July 1. And given the context, that’s a very big deal. 

We know that nothing is ever just given to state employees: we’ve had to fight hard for everything we’ve won to improve wages and working conditions.

And this legislative session that fight was an especially tough one with a record-high state budget deficit of $1.2 billion. 

We saw public threats to cut pay increases for state workers, and in the end, massive cuts to everything from transportation, to local governments and social programs, to support for food banks.

It reminded me a lot of the recession of 2010: back then, we saw layoffs, state facilities shut down, and all state workers forced to take 13 furlough days.

But our union is stronger now. And our members put in the work by calling and emailing our state reps and turning up for Lobby Day to speak to them in person about why these increases are critical to keeping state services strong.

Together, we made it very clear that Step increases, COLAs, and the payroll modernization needed to properly implement Steps, were our priority.

And we won.

So when your increase kicks in this July 1, remember the work our members put in to make that happen.