King County instituting higher minimum wage at same time it’s looking at cutting jobs

King County workers and their associated contractors will now be covered by the county’s first-ever living wage policy. While he counts himself a supporter, Tom & Curley Show host Tom Tangney does note one little irony.

“Right now, you’ve got the King County Executive talking about how he’s going to cut 500 jobs in order to stay under budget. At the same time, they’re trying to raise at least the people that are getting paid to a ‘livable wage,’ as they call it.”

The new ordinance approved by the Metropolitan King County Council Monday would bring King County workers and their associated contractor wages up to a “living wage” in a structured phase-in.

Large employers with over 500 employees start with a requirement of $11 in 2015. They’re expected to hit $15 by 2017. Smaller employers have more time to hit $15 and a portion of health care benefits can be included as a compensation credit. By 2025, all employers, regardless of size will be required to meet the same minimum wage standard, forecast to be $18.13.

Tom says this effort is more symbolic than anything else. “The idea is that if you’re actually working for a county that believes in something called a livable wage, it would be nice if they pay their own employees something,” he says.

“This is not that radical a legislation, in that first off, there are not that many King County employees that don’t make a living wage by that standard. And King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, who was sponsoring the legislation, said more than 100 other jurisdictions around the country have already done this.”

But co-host John Curley says these workers aren’t doing anything to earn this wage increase.

“They’re going to give people a raise and they’re not going to ask them to do any additional work. The work will stay exactly the same, but they will get more money,” says Curley.

Tom says a big part of the argument for it is that this option of raising the minimum wage is actually a cheaper solution than other social programs.

“Their argument is it’s actually the most effective social service there is,” says Tom. “The philosophy is it’s actually cheaper to raise the minimum wage than it is to provide all this social service aid that would cost more.”

But Curley says the money we’re talking about here all comes from the same source. “It just comes out of a different pocket. That’s all. Because it’s all coming from the taxpayer.”