*** MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 ***Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: 206-227-6014, sage@workingwa.org
Members of 99% SuperPAC to "evict" landlord campaign cash and declare "unhappy hour" for low-wage workers
TUESDAY IN TUKWILA & BELLEVUE - Rob McKenna plans to raise tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash at two separate big-bucks fundraisers on Tuesday — and the 99% will be there to raise their voices in a day of action against the McKenna agenda of tax loopholes, budget cuts, and low wage jobs.
99% SuperPAC Day of Action at McKenna fundraisers:
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
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"McKenna for Rent": protest of landlord fundraiser
When: 12 noon, Tuesday September 25, 2012
Where: Doubletree Southcenter, 16500 Southcenter Parkway, Tukwila
What: Leaders of the 99% SuperPAC (People's Action Committee) from communities across the area will converge at a lunchtime fundraiser organized by the state's biggest landlord lobby group, the Washington Apartment Association, and attempt to "evict" big-dollar campaign cash from our political system. Low-income tenants will speak out about the unfairness of a system where rich property owners can invest their rent money to support a candidate whose agenda would make it even harder for tenants to make ends meet — a system that essentially puts candidates & policies up for rent to the highest bidder.
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"McKenna for McJobs": protest of restaurant association fundraiser
When: 3:30 pm, Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Where: El Gaucho Bellevue, 450 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue
What: Protestors to declare fundraiser by anti-minimum-wage group at wildly expensive restaurant to be an "unhappy hour" for low-wage workers. Members of the 99% will rally and speak out against McJobs and against the attempts to undermine the minimum wage backed by McKenna, the Restaurant Association, and the big corporate chains that fund them both.
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More Information:
The Washington Apartment Association, the biggest landlord lobby group in Washington, has said they hope to raise $10,000 to back the McKenna agenda. Last year, they spent more than $45,000 lobbying at the State Capitol in Olympia — more than many of their renters earn. Now they want to take the rent their tenants pay them and turn it into big bucks for McKenna. Their goal: to further advance their 1% agenda, which includes making it easier to evict tenants from their homes, fighting controls on screening fees, and opposing health & safety inspections of rental housing.
The Washington Restaurant Association is infamous for their long opposition to the minimum wage, and for pushing the interests of the notorious low-wage employers like McDonalds, Wendy's, and Coca-Cola who serve on their board. The Restaurant Association opposed the 1998 initiative which tied minimum wage increases to inflation, and the group has repeatedly tried to push for special sub-minimum wages for some kinds of workers. In 2010, they even sued to try and block a 12¢ minimum wage increase. Rob McKenna has supported them almost every time — maybe that's why they expect to raise tens of thousands of dollars to back the McKenna agenda.
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Chapters of the 99% SuperPAC (People’s Action Committee) are springing up in neighborhoods from Renton to Bellevue to Everett in response to a political system that seems to serve as an investment vehicle for the 1%, Together, members of the 99% SuperPAC are organizing to stand up against the campaign cash of the 1% and support a 99% political agenda of good jobs, tax fairness, and economic justice. The 99% SuperPAC is a project of Working Washington. More info at workingWA.org