Union Workers Rally At State Capitol

{Charleston, West  Virginia}...State workers with UE Local 170 gathered at the West Virginia State Capitol at 11:00 A.M. Monday morning to protest their wages and workload. Union members say public workers have seen their wages, benefits and working conditions steadily deteriorate over the years due to a six-year wage freeze, rising health insurance costs and increasing workloads. They're concerned because Governor Earl Ray Tomblin hasn't proposed any pay increases for public workers in the coming year. Chris Wolford, the vice president of UE Local 170, says state employees received a 1-2 percent increase in pay in 2011, but workers need more. Workers are asking for an across the board one-thousand dollars a year increase.