Seattle workers have won yet another milestone in the $15/hour struggle! Central Co-Op, a local not-for-profit organic grocery business, has agreed to pay all of its workers more than $15/hour, starting now: After a sixty-day trial period, new employees will begin earning $15.36 an hour, up one dollar from the trial wage. Wages are tied to annual […]
One of the biggest questions Seattleites should be asking their elected officials this budget cycle is whether the Council will break with business as usual and set aside sufficient funding to enforce paid sick leave, our recently won minimum wage increase, and other laws designed to protect working people. Over the last six months, Seattle’s […]
A half century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for a living wage at the March on Washington, where a quarter of a million people, mostly black workers, demanded their rights. They called for $2 per hour. In today’s dollars, that is the same number we have just won – Dr. King and his […]
Speeches as delivered by Kshama Sawant following the May 29th Minimum Wage Committee The Seattle City Council’s Minimum Wage Committee just voted for $15/hr (click here for streaming video). On Monday, June 2nd, we expect this will be voted on by the Full Council, and passed into law. Today is a historic day for low […]
It is truly historic that Seattle is getting close to a $15/hour legislation – a testament to the success that can be achieved through working class fightback. During yesterday’s Select Committee on Minimum Wage, the Seattle City Council began discussing in detail the draft legislation and potential amendments. Click here to watch the full meeting. […]
Today, Mayor Murray delivered his proposal for raising the minimum wage to City Council. The City Council will deliberate in public and it is important that low wage workers have their voices heard in this process. My staff has put together a few telling graphs that you can see below. Also included at the end […]
Today, Mayor Murray delivered his proposal for raising the minimum wage to City Council. The City Council will deliberate in public and it is important that low wage workers have their voices heard in this process. I have posted a separate blog post to talk more about this here. Also, the Seattle Channel records all […]
Every week I’ll be posting about the activities on Monday, particularly the Council Briefings and the Full Council meetings. The Council Briefings are at 9:30am every Monday morning and is an opportunity for Councilmembers to update the public both on the past week’s activity and to preview the coming week. Full Council meetings are where […]
Recently there have been questions about how to implement the $15/hour minimum wage. There’s been a lot of talk from business that workers should compromise. Here are some initial thoughts, we will be talking more soon: We are fighting for $15/hour for all low-wage workers in Seattle. I would estimate that there are close to […]
The debate around the minimum wage continues in Seattle. Councilmember Kshama Sawant and 15 Now call for a $15/hour minimum wage, however the debate and discussion has taken place behind closed doors without the direct input of minimum wage workers. Wednesday, March 5, 2014 is the first time that City Council and Mayor Ed Murray’s […]