PROTEC17 members at King County organized an event to protest King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s three-day in-office mandate, and hand delivered a giant blank check to his representative on April 21. The check, made out to “Downtown Landlords” at a cost of “Who Knows?”, was meant to symbolize the cost of the return-to-office (RTO) mandate to taxpayers. 

While many King County employees, including PROTEC17 members, have already been working in-person due to the nature of their jobs, many PROTEC17 members have been successfully working from home since the pandemic – so much so that back in 2022, King County closed offices for the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) and others, citing the increased costs of maintaining empty buildings. 

Currently, the County does not have enough office space to house all the workers who would return to the office if the mandate is enforced, as Zahilay aims to do. That means that the County will likely need to invest in new spaces and to update and re-outfit existing spaces so that everyone can fit – not to mention budget for ongoing operations and maintenance.

In addition to protecting taxpayer money, PROTEC17 members also want to maintain flexibility in their work so that they can best serve their communities. 

“All of us know our jobs and what we do in our communities better than anyone,” said PROTEC17 member and DNRP Stormwater Inspector, Brad Moore, who presented the check to Zahilay’s representative. “King County already had existing telework infrastructure that we felt worked really well for us, and we think that this mandate gets rid of that flexibility.” 

PROTEC17 King County members have organized other actions against RTO like a petition, a button and sign-making party, and testifying at County Council meetings. In May, the DNRP got a short reprieve in the three-day mandate when it was reduced to a one-day in-office requirement through summer, presumably to coincide with the World Cup games taking place in Seattle from mid-June to mid-July. For the latest updates on RTO, please reach out to your PROTEC17 King County Union Representatives.