State workers demand raises negotiated with Governor Inslee

KGMI News

OLYMPIA, Wash. – State workers rallied across Washington Wednesday, demanding the Republican Senate fund the raises Governor Jay Inslee negotiated with them last year.

Graham Parrington works at the State Department of Commerce.

“We can afford to pay fair wages to state workers, the stewards of our public resources and teachers,” Parrington says.

But Republican State Senator Dino Rossi and others say the state can’t afford the raises promised to many of the state’s 70,000 employees.

Rossi also claims Governor Inslee granted workers those raises in exchange for their votes last November.

“It doesn’t look right, which is why I had the bill that barred all 38 unions that he negotiates with from contributing to the governor’s race, because of the appearance of corruption,” Rossi says.

Rossi’s bill is unlikely to get a vote this legislative session.