Poll: State worker covid booster bonuses unsurprisingly unpopular

If you’re opposed to Governor Jay Inslee’s $1,000 bonus to state workers who get the COVID-19 booster shot, you’re not alone. According to a WA Poll of 875 Washington adults, 57 percent oppose the bonus, while only 27 percent supported it. Only 20 percent of those polled supported a booster mandate.

The $1,000 bonus is just one of the many problems with collective bargaining negotiations between the governor and public sector unions. Not only are those negotiations done in total secrecy, with no member of the public or media allowed to attend, but the entities negotiating with the governor are able to make financial contributions to their campaign. 

That’s what happened in 2016, when Inslee was negotiating with public unions while running for reelection. Although the meetings are subject to public disclosure requests, those documents are only available well after new bargaining agreements have been finalized and signed.

Considering that these negotiations involve taxpayer dollars and there’s a conflict of interest for an elected official to bargain over public dollars with entities capable of financially supporting their campaigns, the meetings should be completely open to the public throughout negotiations so they can see and hear what public officials intend to do with their money. 

That way, elected officials involved in these meetings can be held accountable and have due pressure put on them to be fiscally responsible.