PORT ANGELES — About 20 people protested in front of the Port Angeles YMCA following the firing of a long-term employee.
“It’s about changes in leadership at the Olympic Peninsula YMCA,” said Mikki Hughes, who said she was fired July 28 after 30 years of working at the Y. “It’s really about the values of the YMCA — honesty, respect, caring and responsibility — and how they’re not following them.”
YMCA CEO Wendy Bart said Wednesday that the Y does not comment on personnel issues.
“I think everyone deserves the right to express themselves,” Bart said about the protest outside of her office.
The protesters were mostly Hughes’ former students, David Miller said.
“She was always promoting the Y, and they fired her when she let them know they were going in the wrong direction,” Miller said.
Hughes said she was a fitness coordinator at the Y for 10 years and a fitness instructor for 31 years. On July 28, Hughes taught both of her classes and said management met her with a clipboard afterward and asked her if she wanted to quit, and when she said “no,” they fired her.
Hughes said she was fired without cause.
“New management would fix things,” Hughes said. “They need to go back to the values of the YMCA.”
The Y has not made any changes in terms of how it’s providing classes, Bart said.
Another issue at the protest was low pay, Hughes said.
“I think upper management should all take pay cuts so the rest of the staff can make a living wage,” she said.
Several employees have quit or been fired since July 28, Hughes said, and many members have quit the Y.
“I think there’s a few people who are choosing to go elsewhere,” Bart said.
Hughes and a few other former instructors plan to teach classes at the Sons of Norway building at no cost, Hughes said.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
