March 9, 2006 12:15 PM PST
Union disses Microsoft salaries
WashTech, an organized labor group that is pushing Microsoft workers to unionize, is speaking out again, this time over the software maker's pay practices.
According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer report, WashTech got a hold of some documents that it claims represent Microsoft's pay plans. The paper reports that the documents appear to show no pay increase for several ranks at the bottom of Microsoft's pay scale.
"In terms of what they're paying out in annual increases to employees, they're trying to hold the line well below 3 percent a year," WashTech president Marcus Courtney told the paper. Microsoft, for its part, told the paper that its pay is "highly competitive in the industry."
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
