On January 1, Washington State’s minimum wage—already the highest in the nation—will rise. The minimum wage will jump from $9.32 to $9.47 per hour as a result of Initiative 688—which voters passed in 1998. I-688 ties the state’s minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, which rose to 1.59 percent in 2014.
The slight hike in the state minimum wage is, of course, set against the backdrop of Seattle’s new $15 minimum wage. As Shift reported extensively, Seattle passed the absurd $15 minimum wage ordinance early this year.
Advocates of the $15 minimum wage—known as the 15 Now movement—are sure to make a push to extend the unprecedented wage hike to cities across Washington State in 2015. Already, strides have been made to do just that in Olympia and Tacoma.
Outstanding! Now all union workers will get an increase in pay due to standard contract language setting pay standards @ a minimum % above minimum wage in the state. Guess who pays for that? Only a liberal left wing-nut would want people to live the rest of their lives on minimum wage. Get educated, paint this state Red!
You think SEIU really worries about the poor when the get a 15 cent pay raise or force the 15 dollar minimum here??? Its about increasing membership and increasing the wages their people can get for their labor. Unions have done nothing for the general public other than increase the cost of government, and medical care while not really helping their membership in their daily lives. They collect millions of dollars from their membership giving it to democrats who are not interested in helping the general public who they work for. Its about money and power. One buys the others and neither helps us in the end!!!
you fuc—g democrats are so stupid im surprised you can even breath
On January 1, Washington State’s minimum wage—already the highest in the nation—will rise.
Idaho has one of the lowest minimum wages in the country — the federal minimum wage, $7.25/hour. How about you guys show us the economic devastation wrought upon far eastern Washington by this difference? For ease of comparison, you can use the college town of Pullman, Washington, and the college town of Moscow, Idaho, which are about ten miles apart. Show us how the economy of Idaho has prospered, and how our economy here in Washington has suffered, from this minimum-wage disparity.