We have our legislative session in 2022 from January 10th to March 10th, 2022.
The legislature meets every year in Olympia, Washington for 60 – 90 days to pass new laws and pass the State budget. SEIU6 is interested in passing laws that will help our members improve their lives at work.
This year, in a coalition with other unions who have cleaning workers, we are looking at passing bills that benefit our janitorial members.
Some of the bills will allow the State to study common injuries that janitors get on the job. Once we are able to study these injuries, we will know how to make our workplaces more safe and efficient. We can also help workers get compensated for injuries they suffer from their work.
Another bill would give rights to janitors in situations where a company leaves and a new one takes over the old company, protection against assault and harassment, making overtime voluntary, and not retaliating against workers for asserting their rights in the bill.
For security officers, SEIU6 will be preparing legislation related to security officer licensing fees. Currently, security officers pay for their own licenses and pay when they transfer to work from one company to another. We are looking at legislation that could waive these fees for our members or require employers to pay the fees.