Commentry: Lawmakers should leave minimum wage law alone

By Jane Teske

Working people in Washington won big time last fall with the passage of Initiative 1433 for higher minimum wage and paid sick leave.

While there were all sorts of troubling results from last fall’s elections, this initiative’s passage was not one of them. That’s why it is crazy to have read over the last month about some members of our Washington state Senate wasting seriously precious time trying to roll back this law. Shame on them. They should focus on real problems we face here in our state and not this kind of distraction.

Here in Snohomish County, the higher wage and paid sick leave law passed with nearly 58 percent approval. And our state is not the only place that made gains like this for workers; many laws like this have passed in cities and states across the nation in the last couple years. Why have we seen these policy changes emerging across the nation? Because people see income inequality as unfair and unjust and feel it needs to be addressed. And they know that the extra money for workers who were making a lower minimum wage last year will spend money that they earn right here in our local communities.

In Washington state we’re talking $1.50 more per hour as of Jan. 1, and it will increase in future years as well. And when working people have a few more dollars in their pocket every week they can take a little better care of themselves and their families.

One reason why this law was even proposed and then got on the ballot for voters to consider was because progressive unions in the state, including my union UFCW 21, worked very hard with many other organizations and individuals and got signatures and put it on the ballot. UFCW 21 was able to gather 53,000 of the necessary signatures, real democracy in action.

I am proud that our union was a leader on this initiative because, as a nurse, I know the health benefits of families having a little more money. And when people with lower incomes are able to earn a little more money for their labor they have less stress, often better nutrition and better health.

In addition to the higher wages for more than 100,000 workers, the paid sick leave part of the new law that goes into effect next January will further help workers, their families and our community as a whole live healthier, happier lives. One million workers right here in our state will have paid sick days who did not before.

They will no longer have to make the poor choice of deciding whether to go to work sick or stay at home and miss a day’s pay. We all know that when sick we should stay at home to care for ourselves or a loved one by resting and drinking plenty of fluids and usually feeling better in a day or two and then coming back to work, rather than come to work sick or send sick kids to school.

In early 2016, I was one of a handful of people who came to Olympia when we filed this initiative with the Secretary of State’s office and am so excited that it passed. However, this January and February, and as a mom of a school-age child, I know that our Legislature should be spending its time on more important and pressing matters than trying to repeal common sense, very popular laws like this new one that provide better wages and paid sick days.

Given the popularity of the initiative and all the other social ills we face as a state, we need our Legislature working on real problems, not this kind of anti-worker vitriol. Without this silly distraction from some Republican senators, maybe they’d have more time to address issues that people want fixed.

How about addressing our underfunded schools so all kids would have a chance for success? How about, as someone who cares for the planet we all call home, spending time to address climate change in an equitable fashion so we reduce pollution and help transition to a cleaner economy?

Let’s keep good laws in place, and oppose efforts to weaken our quality of life. When we stand together, as working people we stand a much better chance to make progress for everyone.

Jane Teske is a registered nurse at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and a member of the UFCW Local 21.