Raise for workers?
Chuck Foy, political director for CWA Arizona State Council, appears at the Capitol April 4 to lobby for a pay increase for state employees.

Rep. Jackie Thrasher, D-10, urged a small crowd to support a $2,400 across-the-board pay increase for state employees during an Arizona State Employee Association-sponsored rally April 4 at the Capitol.
“If I were invited to participate in the legislative appropriations process, my top priority would be raising the pay of state employees,” Thrasher said. “But we all know I won’t be invited to participate.”
Still, Thrasher is hopeful of legislative support.
“We need to create a more worker friendly House and Senate, which will adequately address the needs of one of our most valuable resources, state workers.” she said.
“I think that sometimes they [legislators in Arizona] take the people for granted. We need to prioritize people and provide them with a reasonable living wage,” she told a crowd of about 25 gathered on the House lawn.
Chuck Foy, political director for the Communication Workers of America, Arizona State Council, also spoke in favor of the increase. He said the state has lagged 19 to 29 percent behind most states in state employee compensation for years.
“As many as 40,000 state employees are at the mercy of the Legislature and it is time to come together and demand change,” he said.
H2532 was introduced in January to grant state employees the minimum wage increase approved by voters in November. It was referred to the House government committee Jan. 24, but hasn’t moved since.
Foy also stressed the need for more equalization, or “pay parody” within state agencies.
“It is not uncommon now, for example, for someone who is working in the state health system to request and be granted a transfer to the Department of Corrections in order just to get a pay increase which will allow them to take care of their families,” he said.
“We have had to fight every year just to get minimum increases in compensation for Arizona’s employees. It has been a long time coming, but it is time they have a voice in this state,” he told the crowd.