Minimum-Wage Plan May Bring Nasty Battle -- Bill Calling For $5.25 An Hour By '93 Could Spark Replay Of 1988 Battle

OLYMPIA - House Democrats will push forward a proposal this week for raising Washington's minimum wage by 1993 to $5.25 an hour, likely sparking a replay of a nasty and highly partisan legislative battle fought three years ago.

The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Joe King, is expected again to pit farm workers against farmers, labor against business and Democrats against Republicans.

Washington is one of only five states where the state level exceeds the federal minimum wage. By law,employers in this state must pay whichever standard is higher.

Gov. Booth Gardner will also recommend an increase in the minimum wage. But the governor's office wouldn't say whether the wage level in his proposal would increase as steeply or as quickly as in the House version.

``We are in favor of an increase, but until we get our final recommendation from our budget people it would be premature to comment on anyone else's plan,'' said Dan Youmans, spokesman for Gardner.

The state minimum wage, approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1988, is $4.25 an hour. The federal minimum is $3.80 but increases to $4.25 in April.

The highest minimum-wage levels are in Oregon, which just raised its figure to $4.75 an hour, and New Jersey, where an increase to $5.05 an hour is scheduled in coming months.

King's legislation, which is still being drafted, would raise the state rate to $4.75 an hour by January 1992 and $5.25 an hour the following year, according to his chief of staff, David Moseley.

King's plan seeks automatic adjustments at regular intervals so the minimum wage stays equal to 50 percent of the state's median income.

``We don't think $4.25 (an hour) is a livable wage,'' said Moseley. ``This is an effort to ensure that we keep people moving ahead.''

But business and farm interests say King's proposal ventures too far ahead of a sinking economy.

The Association of Washington Business, (AWB) the state's largest business lobby, said it will oppose any plan requiring that workers here be better paid than in the rest of the nation. Enid Layes, legislative director for the AWB, said a big increase would be especially tough for business in the midst of a recession.

That was echoed by lobbyists for the state's multibillion-dollar agricultural industry, which is heavily dependent on migrants and other low-cost labor.

``We are reticent about the continued habit of Washington state to get way out in front of federal standards,'' said Frank DeLong, a lobbyist for fruit growers. ``The feds are just catching up with where we're at now, and here the state is jumping the gun again.''

Karen Keiser of the Washington State Labor Council, which has helped draft King's bill, responded that there is no evidence that having the minimum wage above the federal mark has hurt the economy at all.

While the state Office of Financial Management estimates that 242,000 workers now make under $5 an hour, both sides agree the battle has much wider impact.

DeLong says most growers already pay many workers substantially more than the minimum wage, but fear an increase would force them to boost pay for the rest of their field workers as well.

Farm-worker advocates say that's just the point.

``We feel this is crucial for us,'' said George Finch of the state farm workers union based in the Yakima Valley. ``It would be an immediate raise for some, but you're also talking about across-the-board pressure for raises.''

Boosting the minimum wage isn't the only proposal from King that business doesn't like.

The speaker plans to unveil a much larger slate this week championing the needs of working families.

One measure would expand the state's landmark family-leave law, which requires businesses with 100 or more workers to allow 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a parent with a newborn or terminally ill child.

The new proposal would extend the law to all companies with 50 or more employees and guaranteeing a leave period for those with a sick child or ailing parents.