10 Years of Worker Wins: Seattle’s Fight for Fair Wages

Today, we celebrate a decade of worker power! In 2015, Seattle’s Minimum Wage and Wage Theft Ordinances took effect—raising wages, holding bad employers accountable, and setting a national standard for worker protections.

The Impact

✅ $16 million recovered for nearly 10,000 workers

✅ Minimum wage increased from $9 in 2014 to $20.76 today

✅ 6,000+ workers won back stolen wages through wage theft enforcement

These victories didn’t happen by chance—they happened because workers organized, took action, and fought for fairness.

Today, Seattle’s minimum wage stands at $20.76 per hour, showing just how far we’ve come in the fight for fair pay. But the work isn’t over—bad employers still attempt to undercut workers, and we must remain vigilant to defend and expand these hard-fought gains.

The Fight Continues

As our Executive Director Danielle Alvarado says:

“Winning the Fight for $15 was just the beginning. Strong enforcement ensures our victories keep putting money back in workers’ pockets and building a fair economy for all.”

Seattle’s worker movement is proof: when we organize, we win. This milestone is not just about celebrating the past—it’s about fueling the movement for our future. 

As we look ahead, we must continue the fight to strengthen enforcement, expand protections, and ensure that all workers—especially those in historically excluded industries like domestic work and gig work—are treated with the dignity we deserve.

Let’s keep pushing for justice in every workplace!

Read More Here

It's National Caregivers Day! - Feb. 21, 2025

[ESPAÑOL ABAJO] On National Caregivers Day, we recognize the vital contributions of domestic workers—nannies, homecare workers, house cleaners, and gardeners—whose work and care makes the work of others possible. We provide care, stability, and support in households across Washington. Yet for decades, domestic workers have been excluded from basic protections. Domestic workers, the majority of whom are women, immigrants, and people of color, have long faced subminimum wages, wage theft, discrimination, and job insecurity. Despite these challenges, we have come together to fight for the rights and dignity we deserve.

Right now, domestic workers are organizing to correct these historic injustices in Washington state. We refuse to keep living and working in the shadows. And we know we can win.

In 2019, we won first-time protections for domestic workers in Seattle. Our efforts to expand workplace protections statewide through a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights has included public testimony, building alliances, and gaining ground. Our policy would end the exclusions that shut domestic workers out of minimum wage, overtime pay, rest breaks, and the right to a written contract. Our fight has made it clear that fair pay, sick leave, and protection from discrimination are not privileges—they are basic rights that every worker deserves. We won’t settle for less.

The fight for these protections is urgent. Across Washington, tens of thousands of domestic workers remain vulnerable to wage theft, workplace abuse, and job insecurity. This policy would protect workers from discrimination based on immigration status and prevent employers from confiscating personal documents. Additionally, it would establish enforcement rights, giving workers the ability to seek justice when our rights are violated. With domestic workers leading the way, this movement has already succeeded in getting protections passed in other states like Oregon and California. Now it’s Washington’s turn to act.

This National Caregivers Day, we celebrate not just the labor of domestic workers but also our resilience and leadership. The work of domestic workers is the foundation of so many families’ daily lives. The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is a long-overdue step to ensure that all Washington workers receive the dignity, pay, and protections we deserve. As other states have shown, raising workplace standards for domestic workers benefits entire communities, strengthening economic opportunity for all. It’s time to stand in solidarity and ensure that domestic workers are no longer treated as invisible, but as the essential workers we have always been.

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En el Día Nacional de los Cuidadores, reconocemos la contribución vital de los trabajadores del hogar—niñeras, limpiadores de casas y jardineros—cuyo trabajo y cuidados hacen posible el trabajo de los demás. Proporcionamos cuidados, estabilidad y apoyo en hogares de todo Washington. Sin embargo, durante décadas, los trabajadores del hogar hemos estado excluidos de las protecciones básicas. Los trabajadores del hogar, la mayoría quien son mujeres, inmigrantes y personas de color, se han enfrentado durante mucho tiempo a salarios menos del mínimo estatal, robo de salarios, discriminación e inseguridad laboral. A pesar de estos problemas, nos hemos unido para luchar por los derechos y la dignidad que merecemos.

Ahora mismo, los trabajadores del hogar nos estamos organizando para corregir estas injusticias históricas en el estado de Washington. Nos negamos a seguir viviendo y trabajando en la sombra. Y sabemos que podemos ganar.

Gracias a los esfuerzos de los trabajadores del hogar, Washington por fin está tomando medidas para corregir estas injusticias históricas. El empuje para exigir nuestros derechos proviene de nuestro compromiso uno a otro para no seguir dejando que nuestras condiciones laborales se oculten en las sombras. Ya hicimos que los políticos de Seattle nos escucharan y conseguimos protecciones para nuestro trabajo dentro de la ciudad de Seattle que entraron en vigor en 2019.  Nuestros esfuerzos para ampliar protecciones laborales en todo el estado a través de una Carta de Derechos de los Trabajadores del Hogar han incluido testimonios públicos, la creación de alianzas y hacer que los políticos se comprometan a actuar. Esta política garantizaría que los trabajadores del hogar ya no estén excluidos de las protecciones laborales como el salario mínimo, el pago de horas extras, los descansos y el derecho a un contrato por escrito. Nuestra lucha ha dejado claro que un salario justo, permisos por enfermedad pagados y la protección frente a la discriminación no son privilegios, sino derechos básicos que todos trabajadores merecen y no nos conformaremos con menos. 

La lucha por estas protecciones es urgente. En todo Washington, decenas de miles de trabajadores del hogar están vulnerables al robo de salarios, los abusos en el lugar de trabajo y la inseguridad laboral. Esta carta de derechos protegería a los trabajadores de la discriminación basada en el estatus migratorio y evitaría que los empleadores confiscaran documentos personales. Además, establecería derechos de ejecución, dando a los trabajadores la capacidad de buscar justicia cuando se violen sus derechos. Con las trabajadoras del hogar a la cabeza, este movimiento ya ha conseguido que se aprueben medidas de protección en otros estados como Oregón y California; ahora le toca actuar a Washington.

En este Día Nacional de los Cuidadores, celebramos no sólo la labor de los trabajadores del hogar, sino también nuestra resistencia y liderazgo en exigir justicia. El trabajo de los trabajadores del hogar es la base de la vida de muchas familias. La Carta de Derechos de los Trabajadores del Hogar es un paso largamente esperado para garantizar que todos los trabajadores de Washington reciban la dignidad, el salario y la protección que merecen. Como han demostrado otros estados, elevar las normas laborales para los trabajadores del hogar beneficia a comunidades enteras, fortaleciendo las oportunidades económicas para todos. Es hora de solidarizarnos y garantizar que los trabajadores del hogar dejen de ser tratados como invisibles y pasen a ser tratados como los trabajadores esenciales que siempre hemos sido.

Service Industry Social: only the beginning

Sean opens up the event.

A chorus of “ohhh yeah”s followed when Restaurant Worker United Vice President and Line Cook Sean asked, “Who here has had their boss deny them their breaks?”

Even more responded affirmatively when he asked, “Who here has been pressured to come in to work while sick?”

Sydney and Zane successfully organized their workplace and came to tell the tale!

Special thanks to Vermillion for allowing use of their space for the event.

Last week at the Service Industry Worker Social, over 50 workers showed up to talk about how when workers have each other’s backs, we can change our workplaces.

Together with Restaurant Workers United, we were able to reach Seattle area industry workers who often face some of the toughest and most unfair working conditions in our cities.

“We spend hours, often upwards of eight hours on our feet, putting strain on our backs, knees or hands…We endure unbearably hot workplaces, we breathe in toxic air from stoves, ovens, broilers, grills and the chemicals we use to clean them. In many workplaces, we do this all without a break and for very little pay.”

Workers were encouraged to talk to each other about the issues they face in their workplaces, and to write a few on Post-It notes on the wall. Workers who have successfully organized and changed their workplaces for the better gave short speeches outlining what that process was like in both English and Spanish. We wrapped up the program with another highly effective organizing tool in this industry - karaoke time! 😎

By the end of the night, workers walked away having connected with the only people who can really understand - each other.

Service industry workers are tired of being exploited, and we know it’s time to change things, workplace by workplace. If you work in the service industry and would like to join the momentum, reach out to Lexy and join in on the next event!

Celebrating 7 Years of Seattle's Secure Scheduling Ordinance!

Seven years ago workers across the food service and retail sectors got fed up with being treated by our corporate employers as if we exist solely to serve at the beck and call of our boss. Having no predictability or flexibility at work made it impossible to live our lives — raise kids, have a vacation, be creative, enjoy other opportunities. So, we fought for Seattle’s first-ever secure scheduling ordinance, and today we celebrate seven years of a worker-won policy that gives us some breathing room. And thanks to the Office of Labor Standards, workers have held employers accountable to the law and put nearly $10 million back in workers’ pockets. Here’s to the next seven and many more!

“The principle behind secure scheduling is clear: workers are people. Workers have lives away from work. We all have a right to know when we’re going to work and how many hours we’re going to get. We’re proud to celebrate seven years of our nation-leading secure scheduling law that holds large corporate employers accountable to this principle and grants workers greater stability and joy both inside and outside of work.”

— Danielle Alvarado, Executive Director | Working Washington & Fair Work Center

How does secure scheduling work?

• Employers must post work schedules at least 14 days in advance, and respect employees’ right to decline any hours not on originally posted schedules.

• Employees are entitled to time-and-a-half pay for any hours worked between closing and opening shifts that are separated by less than 10 hours.

• Employers must provide a written good faith estimate of median hours employees can expect to work and whether employees will work on-call shifts to new employees at the time of hire, and to current employees on an annual basis and when there is a significant change to employees’ schedules.

And more! Read more about the policy here.