State's largest labor union wrong to file suit over suspended raises

WASHINGTON'S largest union for state employees struts its clueless colors with a lawsuit against the governor for daring to deliver a budget that states the obvious: Workers' pay raises need to be dropped to deal with the enormous state budget deficit.

The legalities may be different. A court will decide if recent contract negotiations calling for increases of about 2 percent a year must be upheld. But the Washington Federation of State Employees is acting badly.

Gov. Christine Gregoire did not invent the current budget crisis. She is trying to manage it by presenting a responsible budget that relies on spending cuts, rather than tax increases, to move the state out of its economic doldrums.

A $5.7 billion budget deficit is nothing to sneeze at. Yet state workers do just that by pretending everything is hunky dory, or at least, that their wage increases are sacrosanct.

With a daunting deficit, everything is on the table for cuts. It is implied as a matter of good faith that employees are paid well when times are good and have to sacrifice when times are tough.

Other government entities and private employers are implementing mandatory unpaid days off or offering other ways to cut benefits and budgets. State employees owe it to the citizens of the state to behave responsibly in such dire economic times.

The lawsuit is lousy form and even worse public relations.