WA Attorney General's staff walkout Thursday

WA AG office staff walks out to protest proposed cuts

Staff at the Washington Attorney General's Office held a walkout on Thursday to bring attention to proposed financial cuts and furloughs.

SEATTLE - Staff from the Washington State Attorney General's Office participated in a walkout on Thursday, bringing attention to the impacts of proposed financial cuts and furloughs.

What we know:

The walkout was held in partnership with two unions, including the Washington State Attorney General’s Office Professional Staff Local 795 and the Washington Assistant Attorneys General Union Local 5279.

Those in attendance held signs and chanted against Governor Bob Ferguson's recommended budget cuts of about $4 billion.

"So we're hoping that every legislator understands that the work of the Attorney General's office, which a lot of people I understand don't know, so we need to advocate for ourselves, but the work that we do is to keep criminals behind bars, put them there, and the civil rights and everything that's coming from the other Washington that right now we're having to defend for our Washingtonians' safety and security," said Kim Triplett-Kolerich with WFSE Local 795.

WA AG office walkout over proposed budget cuts and furloughs

The cuts, in an attempt to reduce the state’s multi-billion-dollar deficit, include:

Making most state employees take a furlough day every month over the next two years
Reductions to government travel, property expenses and non-vital operations
Reviewing and scaling back new spending and program expansions