Unions are lining up to sue Gov. Christine Gregoire because her budget doesn’t include money to pay for a new labor contract.

The economy is in the tank nationally, Boeing is whacking 4,600 jobs, housing prices are falling and even Microsoft – Microsoft! – is cutting back. And the unions think it’s A-OK to get the pay raises for their members that were negotiated in better economic times?

Are they kidding? Most people who are lucky enough to have jobs are just thankful they still have one. Forget about getting a pay raise this year. Even people who have jobs are worried about keeping them.

Nevertheless, the Service Employees International Union Local 1119, which represents about 22,000 nurses, health care workers and mental health employees, has joined three other unions suing Gregoire because her budget doesn’t fund pay raises in their contract.

Gregoire’s answer is straightforward – and true. The state simply can’t afford the raises given the staggering $5.7 billion deficit it faces faces now. That number is expected to grow by another $2 billion when the next revenue forecast is announced in March. Those are real dollars with a capital “B” for billion.

This doesn’t mean the health care workers don’t deserve more pay. They do. So do our teachers and workers who provide home health care.

However, giving them the raises only cuts the money needed for other services. The state needs to fund criminal justice, welfare to those on the very bottom of the economic ladder, money for those who simply are unable to work, and more.

During her successful campaign for governor, Gregoire pledged that she would not raise taxes to balance the state’s budget. That promise undoubtedly swayed many people to vote for her. That, too, is a trust she must honor.

The union contracts, negotiated in good faith, cannot be honored given the greatly changed economic conditions the state now faces. While lawsuits claim that the state was aware of the economic downtown when it negotiate the contracts, it’s not reasonable to believe that the state – and nation – believed conditions would deteriorate to the extent they now have.

A union spokesperson says state employees think other ways can be found to balance the state’s budget without cutting back on raises. If so, no one in Olympia has yet found the answer, unless it is to dramatically raise taxes so one segment of our population can gain at the expense of everyone else.

That’s neither fair nor acceptable.