‘I would completely go for it’: Ursula embraces Tumwater’s offer to trade future raises for a four-day workweek

Twenty-eight Tumwater city employees have signed up to work 32-hour weeks starting in January, giving up cost-of-living raises for at least two years and part of their increase in the third year. The voluntary program is expected to save about $164,000 in its first year while helping the city attract and retain employees, according to KIRO 7.

On “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Ursula supported giving employees that choice, while Gee questioned whether he could stop working long enough to enjoy the extra day off.

“At this point in my life, I would completely go for it,” Ursula said.

“If I did take that Friday, I’m such a weirdo that I’m gonna fill it with something else,” Gee said.

Ursula supports letting employees choose

The offer went to 133 nonunion employees, with about one in five accepting. Participants will forgo future raises toward the city’s goal of saving 10% on their wages.

Ursula said her willingness to trade raises for time off has changed over the years.

“Twenty years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case, or maybe even 10 years ago,” Ursula said. “I would’ve been like, ‘No, I can’t.’ The thing that I like that Tumwater is doing is that they’re giving them a choice. You can do either or, and it’s actually saving taxpayers their money.”

She also described having proposed a similar trade herself.

“Give me another week off, and I would be happy not to take a cost-of-living increase or whatever it is, because of where I’m at right now,” Ursula said.

Gee discusses pressure to keep earning

Gee described how financial insecurity and expectations about providing for others have shaped his approach to work.

“When you’re growing up, and you get ready to get into the work world, or you’re going to school, or whatever you did to prepare, you’ve been told and drilled into you: You need to make money. You got to provide,” Gee said. “When you’ve been down so much, and then all of a sudden you fixate on the ability to bring in money. I think the way that I go about life, I think, is terrible, but I can’t stop.”

Ursula connected that pressure to Gee’s past experience with homelessness.

“You recognize that right now are your peak earning years, and you’re going to say yes to every opportunity,” Ursula said.

Gee said he hopes younger generations will approach work differently.

“For many decades, you all know, success, anything that says, ‘Hey, this guy’s successful,’ automatically, you don’t even know what it is,” Gee said. “All you know is if you hear success, you hear money.”

Time off and the cost of living

The conversation also turned to working while sick.

“You should not be working sick,” Gee said. “We should not be doing that. We should actually go rest. But it’s so ingrained in us.”

Ursula recalled Gee insisting she stay home after she became ill during a recent show.

“The next day, I tried to tell you I was feeling better,” Ursula said.

Returning to Tumwater’s offer, Gee supported the program but raised concerns about household expenses.

“I think this is a great deal,” Gee said. “But let’s be real. Let’s go back to what we’re living in right now. Groceries are real. Gas prices are real.”

“It’s not an option for everybody,” Ursula said. “So give them an option.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio.