Washington Gives First Pay Raises for Comparable Worth

OLYMPIA, Wash. — About 35,000 Washington state employees welcomed a little something extra in their paychecks Friday--the first tangible rewards of the state’s $482-million comparable worth program, the largest in the nation.

“We are pioneers,” said Helen Castrilli, a secretary who was an original plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the state. “We don’t do just women’s work, we do essential, important work.”

Friday’s paychecks were the first to reflect the out-of-court settlement of the lawsuit brought by state and national unions. They included an average pay increase of 5% for workers previously underpaid in job categories held predominantly by women.

Friday’s increases alone cost the state more than $1 million, and the total program, which stretches through 1992, will cost $482 million. The program was ratified by the Legislature in January.