When the decade began, there were no local labor standards in Seattle. There was no organization in the state focused on organizing workers to stand up for their rights. There was nobody doing community-based outreach & education, and there were no civil legal clinics focused on workers rights. And then everything changed.
Here’s how the decade played out — and what we accomplished.
2011
Working Washington is born, and in September, Seattle passed one of the first paid sick days laws in the country.
2012
We mounted months of public pressure about Amazon warehouse working conditions, and the company responded by announcing during their May shareholder meeting — as we protested outside — that they would invest $54 million to improve conditions at company facilities.
2013
Fast food workers in Seattle walked out on strike and sparked the nationwide fight for $15 movement. In November, SeaTac voters passed a $15 living wage law for airport, transportation & hospitality workers.
2014
Seattle makes labor history, becoming the first city in the country to pass a citywide $15 minimum wage.
2015
Fair Work Center opens its doors, establishing a new national model for outreach, education, and community-based enforcement.
2016
Coffee, fast food & retail workers win a secure scheduling law in Seattle that provides advance notice of shifts, access to additional hours, a right to rest, and more. And Washington state passes Initiative 1433, raising the statewide minimum wage to $13.50/hour by 2020 and establishing paid sick days.
2017
Starbucks baristas win an improved corporate paid family leave policy, and the state legislature passed a statewide paid family leave law (which takes effect this January 1st).
2018
Seattle nannies and housecleaners pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights that eliminates their exclusion from basic workplace protections. And Working Washington and Fair Work Center came together to build a new model of worker power that combines organizing, enforcement, campaigns, and more.
2019
We won new rules which expand overtime protections to several hundred thousand overworked & underpaid salaried workers in our state. We successfully transformed the pay models of three multi-billion-dollar gig apps, re-established the principle that tips are on top of pay, and launched a national campaign to reboot the gig economy. And we founded CAPE, a political committee which took on Amazon in Seattle’s elections… and won.
2020 & beyond
What’s in store for 2020? We have big plans! We’re going to do what it takes to win pay standards for people working in the gig economy. We’re going to pass statewide secure scheduling. We’re going to pursue new policies to expand our capacity to enforce workers rights. We’re going to reach more workers in more workplaces with info on their rights and how to enforce them. We’re going to put millions of dollars money back into workers; pockets through higher standards, more power, and more enforcement. And we’re going to make it all happen with your support.