Teamster correctional employees joined hundreds of public employees in cities across the state on Saturday to highlight the work of the men and women who keep our communities safe and provide other essential services to the public.

Check out the story on the action in The Stand below:

Hundreds gathered in cities across the state on Saturday to honor the people who keep our communities safe, care for the elderly and disabled, teach and protect our children, maintain our roads, and provide other essential services.

“Public Service Matters” events celebrated the contributions of our friends, neighbors, family members, and customers who are state employees, and called on the Legislature to fund their negotiated contracts so they can get their first general wage increases in seven years.

State employees — from corrections officers to health inspectors, from nurses at public hospitals to faculty at community colleges — described their work and canvassed local businesses and community members at events in Centralia, Federal Way, Medical Lake, Monroe, Shelton, Steilacoom and Yelm.

“My co-workers and I take a lot of pride in our work, protecting our communities from the state’s most violent felons,” said Joschue Reyes, a Classification Counselor at Clallam Bay Corrections Center and Teamsters Local 117 member who attended Saturday’s Public Service Matters event in Shelton. “The public doesn’t see what we do on a daily basis, so being able to connect with people today and earning their support for our first raises in seven years is very gratifying.”

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